Forum on the Caspian, Aral and Dead Seas-Perspective of Water Environmental Management and Politics


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Management of International Waters in the UNU Programme

Dr. Juha I. Uitto
Academic Officer, The United Nations University

Water is a finite natural resource. Yet it is essential for the sustenance of life on earth. Agenda 21, a major outcome of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, or Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, states that effectively integrated management of water resources is important to all socio-economic sectors relying on water. Rational allocation prevents conflict and enhances the social development of local communities, as well as economic planning and productivity.

Competition for fresh water resources, particularly in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world, is bound to lead to conflicts in the near future among countries sharing international fresh water bodies. Furthermore, environmental degradation due to intensive water development and usage, as well as global change plays an important role in the socio-economic and political processes both nationally and internationally.

Chapter 18 of Agenda 21 on "Protection of the quality and supply of freshwater resources" further identifies the great importance of transboundary water resources and their use to the riparian states. It is recognized that cooperation among the riparian states may be desirable in conformity with existing agreements and/or other relevant arrangements, taking into account the interests of all riparian states concerned.

Issues pertaining to the management of international waters for sustainable development figure prominently in the UNU research programme.

Environment and sustainable development form one of the five main areas of concentration in the UNU programme. The programme area entitled 'Global Life-Support Systems' responds to the United Nations Agenda 21. In 1993, UNU appointed a high-level advisory team to explore the ways by which the institution could contribute to the implementation of the Earth Charter and Agenda 21.

The overall objectives of the UNU activities in the field of management of international waters, focus on the comprehensive and objective study of regions sharing major international water bodies, in view of providing bases for sustainable environmental and political management of the critical resources.

In 1993, UNU organized a project focusing on the international waters of the Middle East, including the Nile, the Jordan and Euphrates-Tigris Rivers. Water is seen as one of the major questions of international politics - and tension - in the region where fresh water is a scarce resource. The UNU Middle East Water Forum was organized, together with the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) and UNEP, in Cairo in February 1993, and it brought together key actors from the countries in the region, many of whom were closely involved in the Middle East peace talks. The project looked at the international waters of the Middle East from the point of view of management for sustainable and peaceful purposes. It was, indeed, seen to make a contribution to the Middle East peace process by providing objective and scientifically based knowledge and management options for the utilization of the transboundary water resources in the region. The concrete outcomes of that Forum included three major books on water resources management and politics in the region (Biswas, 1994; Murakami, 1995; Wolf 1995).

An ongoing activity relates to the environmental management of the Aral Sea region, a major environmental disaster region shared by a number of independent nations. The Aral Sea has been one of the regions studied under the UNU project on 'Critical Zones in Global Environmental Change' (Kasperson et al., in press).

In 1992, UNU joined hands with the Global Infrastructure Fund (GIF) Research Foundation Japan to organize a symposium on 'Environmental Management of the Aral Sea Region.' A second symposium reporting on the progress of the ongoing research was held in December 1993 (Paoletto 1992, 1994). The objective of these symposia was to seek solutions to overcoming the problems of the Aral Sea through international cooperation. The Asian Water Forum organized in Bangkok just recently in January-February of 1995, focused on conflict resolution in terms of water allocation between the countries sharing the three major water bodies in Asia, namely the Mekong, Ganges-Brahmaputra, and Salween rivers. A secondary objective was to study issues related to industrial development, environment and navigation along the rivers.

Again, the aim was to bring scholars and policy-makers from the riparian countries around the same table, together with representatives of major international organizations and donors active in the regions in question. These activities have, thus, major policy objectives that go beyond the academic research.

Building upon the past activities and the common theoretical frameworks, the University is pleased to cooperate with our partners, the International Lake Environment Committee Foundation (ILEC) and the UNEP International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) in organizing the present Forum focusing on water resources management in the major enclosed inland seas in the Central Eurasian region, the Aral, Caspian and Dead Seas.

This Forum forms a part of a three-day series on the Central Eurasian water crisis and perspectives. With the invaluable cooperation of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) the partners have been able to bring together leading scholars from the countries in the region, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Iran, as well as Russia, USA and Japan, who can speak on the common and specific problems facing the Caspian, Aral and Dead Seas. It is our hope that some new and creative ideas for solving the environmental, social, economic and political problems will emerge.

References:

Biswas, A.K., ed. (1994). "International Waters of the Middle East: From Euphrates-Tigris to Nile." Oxford University Press: Bombay-Delhi-Calcutta-Madras.

Kasperson, J.X., Kasperson R.E. & Turner II, B.L. (in press). "Regions at Risk: Comparisons of Threatened Environments." United Nations University Press: Tokyo-New York-Paris.

Murakami, M. (1995). "Managing Water for Peace in the Middle East: Alternative Strategies." United Nations University Press: Tokyo-New York-Paris.

Paoletto, G., ed. (1992). "Environmental Management of the Aral Sea Region: Finding Solutions to One of the World's Major Environmental Disasters." Report of the International Symposium held at UNU Headquarters Building, Tokyo, Japan, 29 September 1992. The United Nations University & Global Infrastructure Fund Research Foundation Japan: Tokyo.

Paoletto, G., ed. (1994). Report of the Seminar on the Aral Crisis: Second UNU/GIF Meeting on the Environmental Management of the Aral Sea Region. The United Nations University & Global Infrastructure Fund Research Foundation Japan: Tokyo.

Wolf, A.T. (1995). "Hydropolitics Along the Jordan River: Scarce Water and Its Impact on the Arab-Israeli Conflict." United Nations University Press: Tokyo-New York-Paris.

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