UNECE Water Convention Recent updates. Sonja Koeppel Water Convention secretariat

Transcription

1 UNECE Water Convention Recent updates Sonja Koeppel Water Convention secretariat

2 Current priorities under the Water Convention Global opening of the Convention: support to accession by non-unece countries Preparations for the 8th Meeting of the Parties (Astana, Kazakhstan, October 2018) and development of the new programme of work for : All EU Member States invited to contribute Pilot reporting under the Convention and on SDG indicator 6.5.2: Analysis of data

3 Water Convention s global opening High interest in the Convention among African countries: several have started the accession process: Chad, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, DRC. In addition, Lebanon, Iraq, Viet Nam, Peru Convention called upon to support development of sub-regional frameworks for transboundary water cooperation in Africa: ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD Cooperation with river basin organizations: Senegal, Congo, lake Chad, Niger, Okavango, Congo, OSS, SMM; also with AMCOW Thematic work: Nexus assessement on the NWSAS, and Niger with GIZ, benefits assessments on the Okavango and SMM basins, climate change cooperation with Congo Training on how to prepare bankable project proposals for climate change adaptation in transboundary basins organized in June 2017 in Dakar

4 Participation in events under the Water Convention More than 60 non-unece countries already participated in Convention s activities

5 Lessons learned and future prospects Global opening brings many benefits: EU countries can share their experience but also learn about good practices from other regions First non-unece country expected to accede in 2018 Important to involve Ministries of Foreign Affairs in accession process Useful role of embassies of EU countries and EU delegations and local development cooperation agencies in non-unece countries interested in accession EU demarche from 2013 could be repeated Strategy for implementation of the Convention at the global level currently under development Challenge: how to respond to the demands from interested non-unece countries, but remain relevant for the current Parties?

6 Preparations for the 8th Meeting of the Parties: Astana, Kazakhstan October 2017 Will be first global Meeting of the Parties High-level segment on 10 Oct: Invitation to EU and all countries Will adopt, decision on reporting, strategy for global implementation, new programme of work, etc. Preparatory process: WGIWRM on May 2018 Development of work programme in a consultative process: Online survey to be sent by mid-november: Please reply! Selected interviews Draft to be developed by Bureau for discusion at WGWIRM in May 2018 All EU countries and EU are much encouraged to contribute: which topics interest you?

7 Reporting on the Convention and SDG indicator SDG Target 6.5: By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate Pilot repoting under the Convention was combined with reporting on SDG indicator (UNECE and UNESCO custodian agencies) Pilot reporting exercise: 37 out of 40 Parties reported 102 countries out of 154 reported on SDG indicator which measures transboundary water cooperation worldwide Currently analysis of data and validation with countries First report on progress of transboundary water cooperation based on official country data will be submitted to HLPF in July 2018 Revision of the reporting template: Meeting in Budapest (16-17 Jan) UNECE is part of GEMI where all SDG 6 indicators are discussed and will contribute to SDG 6 synthesis report Invitation to GEMI workshop on November in the Hague

8 Reporting as a trigger for change Reporting requires significant work, but is helpful to review current status and progress made Countries appreciated to provide in depth-information beyond the requirement for the calculation of the indicator value. Reporting process as an opportunity for countries to identify good practices and improve coordination nationally and cooperation with riparians and to raise visibility of transboundary cooperation Convention is a useful intergovernmental framework for discussing indicator and its follow-up First results: Europe is very advanced in transboundary cooperation and has high diversity in institutional arrangements, but certain challenges remain, such as limited cooperation on shared groundwater. Africa is very advanced in tb cooperation as well

9 Invitation to upcoming events Global workshop on water scarcity and 9th meeting of the Task Force on Water and Climate (Geneva, December 2017) Revision of reporting template (Budapest, January 2018) Global workshop on benefits of transboundary water cooperation (Geneva, 6-7 February) Working Group on Monitoring and Assessment (Geneva, February 2018) 8th World Water Forum (Brasilia, March 2018): thematic session on international legal frameworks for transboundary cooperation Working Group on IWRM (Geneva, May 2018) HLPF with focus on water SDG 6 (and others, New York, July): side event on indicator th Meeting of the Parties (Astana, October 2018)

10 Conclusions Great opportunity for transboundary water cooperation: Security Council debate, SDG target and indicator For the first time, official country data on advancement of transboundary cooperation becomes available: SDG report 2018 is crucial year for the Convention: MOP8 etc. Global opening of the Convention presents opportunity to build a global intergovernmental institutional house for transboundary water cooperation However, increasing resource needs EU MS and EU play an important role in supporting and promoting the Convention

11 More information including guidelines, publications and information on activities under the Convention can be found at: Thank you for your attention!