New York, 26 December 2022 (TDI): Governments and Organizations have united to form the Transboundary Water Cooperation Coalition in view of the second-ever UN conference on water.
The coalition includes over 30 nations and organizations that have decided to strive for increased cross-border water cooperation.
In addition, The Coalition was established on December 8, 2022, at the UNESCO-hosted UN-Water Groundwater Summit in Paris, France.
Members of the Coalition
The countries in the coalition include Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Namibia, The Netherlands, Panama, Senegal, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Uganda.
In addition to these countries, many other organizations and institutions are also part of the coalition.
Aims of the Coalition
The Coalition will engage nations and organizations to submit plans to improve transboundary water cooperation as contributions to the Water Action Agenda.
This is one of the primary outcomes of the United Nations 2023 Water Conference. Moreover, the coalition also aims to raise the collective voice of the transboundary water community.
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It will also explain the advantages of transboundary water cooperation for both upstream and downstream nations, as well as in the context of coping with emerging climatic problems.
On the coalition’s launch, the United Nations economic commission for Europe’s (UNECE) Executive Secretary Olga Algayerova addressed the summit. She said that accelerating transboundary water cooperation necessitates a large alliance of parties.
She added, UNECE invites all states to declare their intention to ratify the Water Convention at the 2023 UN Water Conference and is happy to be a part of the Transboundary Water Cooperation Coalition.
In addition, Slovenia’s Environment and Spatial Planning Minister, Uroš Brežan, and Foreign Affairs Minister, Tanja Fajon also shared their remarks.
They regarded Transboundary water cooperation as the management of shared water resources, common interests, constructive reciprocity, and establishment of confidence.
Eric Tardieu, Secretary General of the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO) on the behalf of many organizations working on integrated water resources management on the ground shared his views.
He added that Cooperation on transboundary water issues accelerates the attainment of our global Sustainable Development Goals.
