Transcript Document

International Conference on Freshwater
Bonn, 2001
Sharing Benefits of Transboundary
Waters through Cooperation
David Grey
The World Bank
River basin management
& boundaries
• Basins within nations with strong central
government
Legal complexity
Political complexity
• Basins within federal nations with strong state
governments (transboundary waters)
• Basins shared by nations (international
transboundary waters)
International transboundary waters
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Extent: 260 “river” basins shared by 2+ nations
Culture: river/society, pride, sovereignty
Jurisdiction: no entity unless negotiated
Politics: ‘anarchy’ of international relations
Principles: UN Convention foundation
Tensions: longstanding, always, growing with
demand, ‘water wars’….
‘New Geography of Conflict’
“Possible flashpoint for resource
conflict”
“Water systems & aquifers
• Jordan
• Nile
• Tigris – Euphrates
• Amu Darya
• Indus
• Mountain Aquifer (W.
Bank/Israel)”
Overview
• What are the benefits of cooperation?
• How can these benefits be shared?
• Some lessons and conclusions
Benefits of International Waters Cooperation
The Challenges
Level 1:
Benefits to the river
Limited water resour.
management:
degraded watersheds,
wetlands, biodiversity,
& water quality.
The Opportunities
Improved water quality,
riverflow characteristics, soil
conservation, biodiversity; a
pre-requisite
Benefits of International Waters Cooperation
The Challenges
Level 1:
Benefits to the river
Level 2:
Benefits from the river
The Opportunities
Limited water resour.
management:
degraded watersheds,
wetlands, biodiversity,
& water quality.
Improved water quality,
riverflow characteristics, soil
conservation, biodiversity; a
pre-requisite
Sub-optimal water
resources
development
Improved hydropower &
agricultural production, flooddrought management,
environmental conservation &
water quality
Benefits of International Waters Cooperation
The Challenges
Level 1:
Benefits to the river
Level 2:
Benefits from the river
Limited water resour.
management:
degraded watersheds,
wetlands, biodiversity,
& water quality.
Improved water quality,
riverflow characteristics, soil
conservation, biodiversity; a
pre-requisite
Sub-optimal water
resources
development
Improved hydropower &
agricultural production, flooddrought management,
environmental conservation &
water quality
Tense (+/-) regional
relations & political
Costs because of the river economy impacts
Level 3:
The Opportunities
Policy shift to cooperation &
development, from dispute; from
food & energy self-sufficiency to
security; reduced conflict risk &
military expenditure (+/-)
Benefits of International Waters Cooperation
The Challenges
Level 1:
Benefits to the river
Level 2:
Benefits from the river
Limited water resour.
management:
degraded watersheds,
wetlands, biodiversity,
& water quality.
Improved water quality,
riverflow characteristics, soil
conservation, biodiversity; a
pre-requisite
Sub-optimal water
resources
development
Improved hydropower &
agricultural production, flooddrought management,
environmental conservation &
water quality
Tense (+/-) regional
relations & political
Costs because of the river economy impacts
Level 3:
Level 4:
Benefits beyond the river
The Opportunities
Regional
fragmentation
Policy shift to cooperation &
development, from dispute; from
food & energy self-sufficiency to
security; reduced conflict risk &
military expenditure (+/-)
Integration of regional
infrastructure, markets &
trade
Sharing the benefits
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The Challenge
Optimal river development may give unacceptable
distribution of benefits
A mechanism for redistribution & compensation
‘Fairness’ – subjective & situation specific
Potential benefits to be shared
– Water quantity/quality; water supply; hydropower; agricultural
production; fisheries; transport; eco-tourism; trade….
• Political decisions
Sharing the benefits
Principles
• Some international consensus on principles
– 1997 UN Convention on the Law of the Non-navigable Uses
of International Watercourses (SADC Protocol, etc)
• “Equitable and reasonable utilization”
• “No significant harm”
• No consensus on prioritization
– UN Convention ‘vital human needs’
• No consensus on specific criteria
Sharing the benefits
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Potential Criteria
Physical factors: geography, hydrology, contribution to
flow
Socioeconomic factors: total population, dependent
population, economic & social needs
Water Uses: existing & potential, efficiency of use
Alternative sources: availability & costs
Externalities: upstream & downstream
Conservation: impacts & efforts to preserve
Formulae: Equal (or proportionate) shares of flows or
benefits
Sharing the benefits
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Past practices
Compensation for lost benefits
Equal apportionment of flow to each riparian
Prioritization of uses
Payments for water
Absolute sovereignty of tributaries
Equal allocation of benefits, and
Relinquishing of prior uses
(after: Wolf)
Sharing the benefits
Some possible mechanisms
• Water sharing
– (Re)assigning rights
• Payments for water
– Payment for use rights, bilateral sale or water markets
• Payments for benefits
– Compensation for lost benefits, payments to allow new uses
• Purchase agreements – power, agriculture, etc.
– Agreed price can effect a transfer of benefits
• Financing & ownership arrangements
– Agreed terms can effect a transfer of benefits
• Bundling broader benefits
– Trade, transport….
Lessons in Benefit Sharing
• Importance of political PROCESS
• Perception of fairness essential to sustain cooperation
on transboundary waters
• Sharing benefits &/or water
• Benefit bundles: the broader the better
• Innovative benefit sharing mechanisms
• Unique solutions
Process: the key lesson
• Imperative of trust
– Build capacity to “level playing field”
– Wide civil society engagement: basin “community of interest”
– Share experiences “in the bus”
• Riparian ownership: ownership builds commitment
– Self-financed institutional arrangements essential
• Riparian commitment
– “Shared Vision”: recognizing “win-win”
– Share benefits, not only water
• Inclusiveness & subsidiarity
– Build basin-wide framework
– Achieve early results through sub-basin action
Conclusions
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No blueprints: from simple to very complex
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Process as important as product to achieve
cooperation
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Twice as long & costly as planned - & then some
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From river cooperation to economic integration
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An instrument to support PROCESS? –
sustainability & security (‘public goods’)
Share experiences ...