INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS

Transboundary Water Cooperation Coalition

• 06.04.2023
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Transboundary Water Cooperation Coalition

UNECE (United Nations / Multilateral body)

A diverse, multi-stakeholder coalition of actors from around the world with a wide range of functions and capacities, the Coalition will inspire and foster equitable and sustainable cooperation on transboundary waters and provide support through its members. The coalition will provide a catalysing framework for commitments and progress on transboundary water cooperation, especially linked to the UN 2023 Water Conference and the call for voluntary commitments that will comprise one of the outcomes of the Conference, the Water Action Agenda. The Coalition objective is to promote and support both the sustaining and the advancement of transboundary water cooperation in the context of the Water Action Agenda and SDG 6, in light of growing risks, including those linked to climate change. Ambitions to achieve this objective may include:

• Increase the proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement in place in line with SDG indicator 6.5.2
• Increase the number of Parties to the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) and 1997 Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (Watercourses Convention)
•  Increase the impact and effectiveness of River Basins Organisations and operational transboundary arrangements to foster regional development and prevent conflicts
• Increase the number of projects and interventions supporting transboundary water cooperation (e.g., dialogue, analysis of benefits of cooperation, data-sharing, transboundary climate change adaptation, etc.)
•  Increase international and national funding for transboundary water cooperation. The objective and ambitions will be achieved by:
• Lifting the voice of the transboundary water community in an inclusive, diverse but unified manner
• Demonstrating and communicating the benefits of effective and sustainable transboundary water cooperation, including for upstream countries and in the adaptation to new climate challenges, and how to overcome bottlenecks to cooperation
• Catalyzing financial and technical support to initiate dialogue, support and advance cooperation efforts and assess their impacts.
•  Providing impetus for concrete actions and commitments related to equitable and sustainable transboundary water cooperation, to “push” progress towards mutually beneficial outcomes
•  Giving particular emphasis on cooperation in transboundary aquifers considering how far behind it lags with respect to international rivers and lakes

Expected Impact

• Country and stakeholder engagement at the UN Water 2023 Conference and commitments on transboundary cooperation, notably in the context of the Water Action Agenda and SDG 6
• Consolidated transboundary water community around common objectives and provision of a space for multistakeholder engagement which adds to what is already existing
•  Demonstrate strong policy and stakeholder engagement by showcasing high-level transformative commitments
•  Optimization of resources and addressing gaps that only a coalition, and not one organization, can carry out, utilizing the different strengths of each coalition member
• Inspiring new thinking on solutions to transboundary water cooperation and catalyzing new ideas and initiatives

Partners

Chile Dominican Republic Estonia Finland France Germany Hungary Iraq Kazakhstan Morocco Namibia The Netherlands Panama Senegal Slovenia Switzerland Uganda European Union Inter-American Development Bank (IaDB) Organization of American States (OAS) World Bank Global Environment Facility (GEF) UNECE UNEP UNESCO ESCWA UNCDF UNDP International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC) Centro Regional para la Gestión de Aguas Subteranneas de América Latina y el Caribe (CeReGAS) Global Water Partnership (GWP) IHE Delft Institute for Water Education International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO) Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) IUCN Geneva Water Hub, EcoPeace Middle East, University of Kinshasa Water Diplomacy