Water Convention

WATER CONVENTION

By Anton Antonio

January 23, 2016

Inland water bodies such as lakes have traditionally been hard to manage especially when two or more countries border these water bodies.  To harmonize and unify initiatives and proper management of these water bodies, the Water Convention was conceptualized.

Here is a researched material on the Water Convention… “The Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary and International Lakes, also known as the Water Convention, is an international environmental agreement and one of the UNECE’s negotiated environmental treaties.  The purpose of this Convention is to improve national attempts and measures for protection and management of transboundary surface waters and ground waters.  On the international level, Parties are obliged to cooperate and create joint bodies.  The Convention includes provisions on: monitoring, research, consultations, warning and alarm systems, mutual assistance and access as well as exchange of information.  It was opened for signature in Helsinki on 17 March 1992 and entered into force on 6 October 1996.  As of July 2015, it had been ratified by 41 parties, which includes 40 states and the European Union.  It has been signed but not ratified by the United Kingdom.  Some of the UNECE’s water related problems are of water quantity and water quality, high water stress and overexploitation of water resources, increasing droughts and floods, contaminated water resulting in water-related diseases, etc.  These issues are even harder to solve due to transboundary nature of water sources in UNECE region.  More than 150 major rivers and 50 large lakes are either shared or are situated along the borders of two or more countries.  The Water Convention approaches its issues in a holistic way, equally emphasizing the importance of ecosystems, human societies and economies, and stressing integrated water management instead of the previously used focus on specific localized problems.  In 2003, the Water Convention was amended, allowing countries outside the UNECE region to join the Convention, and thus benefit from its legal framework and experience; the amendment entered into force in 2013.  This is especially beneficial for countries bordering UNECE regions.”  (Wikipedia)

There are many international environmental accords that have been beneficial to most nations all over the world.  One such initiative is the Water Convention.

Thoughts to promote positive action…

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REFERENCE:

Wikipedia, (2016).  “Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watersources and International Lakes”.  Retrieved on January 23, 2016 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_the_Protection_and_Use_of_Transboundary_Watercourses_and_International_Lakes