Countries that share rivers and lakes with other countries face many challenges. Building cooperation on water in the shadow of the climate crisis is critical for the water security of all of us
For us Israelis today, water coming out of the tap is probably a matter of course, but according to דו"ח the service the meteorological World 3.6 billion people worldwide face water scarcity – a number expected to rise to 5 billion by 2050. On top of that, 2023 was the driest year in 33 years in river drainage basins around the world. In the face of all this, the consensus is forming in the world that we have no other way to deal with water crises without regional cooperation. At the end of October it gathered for the tenth time UN Water Treaty Commission in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with the aim of protecting water sources and ensuring equal access to water for all.
During the meeting in Ljubljana, the accession of three new countries was celebrated - Ivory Coast, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Photography: pexels
Transboundary rivers and lakes
60 percent of fresh water sources - Drinking water - around the world are water sources that cross political borders; These are 286 rivers and lakes and 592 aquifers (reservoirs of Groundwater). As of today, less than 20 percent of the countries that share water basins have signed official agreements dealing with cooperation on the subject. The climate crisis leads to many vulnerabilities in water sources such as droughts, floods, floods, Pollution of water sources and lack of drinking water.
About 500 participants came to the tenth session of the Water Treaty Committee, including official representatives from about 100 countries. The goals of the committee are to promote sustainable management of transboundary water resources, to reduce water conflicts and encourage countries to cooperate in water management, protect freshwater ecosystems and ensure equitable access to water. A classic example A water dispute is the Iliso Dam In the Tigris-Euphrates river basin - shared by Turkey, Iraq and Syria. The conflict arose due to the conflict of interests between the countries: while upstream Turkey built infrastructure to meet its development and energy needs, downstream Iraq and Syria suffer from reduced water flow, droughts and deteriorating ecosystems. There is a two-way relationship between the protection of water sources and sustainable development, and it is expressed in the fact that sustainable development promotes responsible management of water resources and water is a driving force that enables sustainable development.
The UN Water Convention is currently signed 55 countries, and 20 more countries are in the process of joining. During the meeting in Ljubljana, the accession of three new countries was celebrated - Ivory Coast, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The convention is considered one of the most important tools for achieving this The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and especially to achieve Goal number 6 which deals with ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation.
Examples and successes
Several examples of cross-border collaborations were presented at the conference:
The Sava River
Partner countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia.
Yugoslavian wars in the 90s led to the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the displacement of more than 2.5 million refugees. In addition to this, there was significant environmental damage and damage to infrastructure in the area, such as contamination of drinking water and disruption of waterways, damage to dams and hydroelectric facilities (production of electrical energy from the movement of water), destruction of water and sewage treatment facilities, soil erosion and flooding. As a result of these damages, the Sava River Committee was established which promoted regional cooperation, addressing the environmental problems and promoting dialogue and rebuilding trust between the countries involved. The committee established a regional system for monitoring water quality and a system for coordinating plans for flood management and hydroelectric dam management. Today it continues to serve as an important institution in establishing regional cooperation and managing the shared water resources of the Sava River Basin.
International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River
Partner countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine.
The Commission, which has been operating since 1998, emphasizes the importance of the integrated management of the Danube River basin through joint initiatives to prevent and reduce future pollution, to restore ecosystems and to improve flood management. Over the years, it has worked to reduce the frequency and impact of floods by restoring wetlands to absorb water, building dedicated flood plains and improving drainage systems, alongside rapid response in emergencies. Brigitte Vogel, Executive Secretary, added at the conference that "data sharing has always played a key role in the ICPDR [at the Commission] through the establishment of an international monitoring network with more than 100 sampling sites along the river, to monitor and assess its quality. The sharing of information has helped us and the countries create a baseline Eitan for building trust and successful cooperation in the Danube River basin."
The Nile Basin Initiative
Partner countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda.
The initiative among the Nile Basin countries aims to promote sustainable development and equitable management of water resources. At the conference, joint projects in agriculture, irrigation and water security were presented as part of the cooperation. "Egypt is a country downstream of the Nile River, and climate change is expected to cause crop damage, pressure on water sources and the fragmentation of water systems. Egypt believes that regional and global cooperation can help the countries deal with these crises," the Egyptian representative stated.
local representation
Israel is not a signatory to the water treaty, and currently does not use this platform to promote this type of cooperation. The Israeli delegation present at the conference was the delegation of graduates of the "Ecooffice Program for Climate and Water Diplomacy", which included representatives from Israel and various countries in the Middle East. "The messages presented today in the media and on social networks highlight that this is impossible. To see Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians from the region working together is to show humanity, and that dialogue is possible and we are ultimately people who want peace, security and a future," says Dr. Dana Lev, Director of the Education Department of Ecofis Israel. "When in Ecopis delegations people present the same poster or the same lecture together it is incomprehensible to others, when usually only a few are seen We hate each other," she explains. Ecofis association that was Candidate to the prize Noble Peace be upon you This year, is a regional organization operating in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. The association was founded in 1994 in Matra promote cross-border cooperation on environmental issues, water and dealing with the expected consequences of the climate crisis Extremely extreme in our area.
Lev explains that the participation of Ecopis graduates in international delegations and conferences is of great importance for several reasons. The first is understanding the complexity and consequences of the fact that our regional water basins are shared - there are rivers and streams that pass between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority and through which the water flows to the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. "If Jordan has a drought while the water in our tap continues to flow, there is inequality and environmental injustice, and it is important that we know how to raise awareness of the importance of this matter both here and in the international discourse." Lev adds that "it is essential that influential factors understand that if there is no environmental dialogue between Israel and its neighbors, we do not have the ability to handle these things on our own. All the more in the context of water." Along with all the potential that such exposure has, this is one of Ecopis' biggest difficulties: "On the one hand, we make sure not to advertise too much to keep our participants safe. On the other hand, if they were more exposed to our work, we would be able to produce a more powerful impact."
The Israeli delegation present at the conference was the delegation of graduates of the "Ecooffice Program for Climate and Water Diplomacy". Photo: Evelyn Anka.
Water that promotes peace
Over the years, Ecofis has promoted many regional collaborations (Green Blue Deal, Water Energy Nexus) and one of them is rehabilitation Jordan river. The Jordan River is found in a long rehabilitation process, which started locally already in 2014 under the leadership of the Nature and Parks Authority. Before the restoration, the river was polluted and dried up, with fragmented naphthols, damaged biodiversity and invasive plants. The restoration involved improving the functioning of the river in the ecological, hydrological and tourist aspects. In 2015, Ecofis published a comprehensive economic-environmental-tourism master plan for the restoration of the river, calling on the decision makers for regional cooperation on the issue. The efforts for restoration bore fruit and in November 2022, at the UN Climate Conference, an agreement was signed between the former Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg and the Jordanian Minister of Water on regional cooperation for the restoration of the Jordan River.
While it was decided that share פעולה עם ירדן will mediate Through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Water Authority and the Ministry for Regional Cooperation, so far there has been no progress on the issue since the signing of the agreement, also in light of the political situation in the region. While Ecofis promotes such critical collaborations in our region, through mediation, information and data sharing and education, it is an association that represents civil society. Therefore, the decision makers must also promote the issue.
From the educational aspect, Ecofis raises awareness of the importance of regional dialogue to promote a common goal of preserving nature, preserving water sources and building climate resilience by training young people in water and climate diplomacy. Ecofis program graduates integrate into the field in a variety of platforms such as regional projects and international conferences. "Young Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians from a variety of fields, legal advisors, biologists, engineers, activists and artists, who sit at the same table and have a conversation with people with the same field of interest as them, which is a mind-bending experience," Lev says. "We know how to say that the environment and water connect these people. The geopolitical discourse is mainly behind the scenes. The discourse is a professional discourse and a face-to-face meeting is significant for the perception and understanding that cooperation is fundamental and fundamental to our ability to continue to exist here."
While the participation of the Ecofis delegation against the background of the war caused pause and inspiration among the conference participants, since October 7th the activities of the association have undergone a shake-up. "A significant part of our focus was temporarily directed to the local arenas. Each office is doing more local work and the regional work has moved to zooms or meetings outside the Middle East in neutral places, when it is possible," Lev explains, adding that "a lot of work was done to provide emotional support to the team from a very early stage of the war In dealing with the current reality through the services of psychologists, mindfulness and group and personal meetings." Ecofis continues to work closely together despite the challenges and build plans and projects for the day after.
