The second chapter of the UN 2020 Water and
Climate Change report dissects the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
(2015), Paris Agreement on climate change (2015), Sendai Framework for Disaster
Risk Reduction (2015), and several international water conventions. The report
concludes that almost all of these frameworks do not address water management
by name, even though water is an underlying connector in all frameworks.
The
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is
a collection of 17 goals that aim to reshape global development in ways that allow
us to “reach the future we want whilst leaving no one behind.” Water serves as
an often unacknowledged, yet vital, connecting factor for achieving the
sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly water being essential for
basic human needs (SDGs 6, 5), but also for marine (SDG 14) and land (SDG 15)
ecosystems, for producing food (SDG 2) and energy (SDG 7), supporting
livelihoods (SDG 8) and industry (SDGs 9, 12), and providing sustainable and
healthy environments to live in (SDGs 1, 3, 11).
SDG 13 recommends we “take urgent action to
combat climate change and its impacts,” is the SDG most explicitly concerned
with climate change. Although it does not specify water-related issues, the
goal has several water-related targets and has designated indicators such as
strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate related disasters (e.g.
floods and extreme weather events). The fact that water-related issues are not
called out by name is emblematic of what the report calls a “fundamental
disconnection” between the SDGs themselves, as well as other global frameworks.
SDG 6 recommends we “ensure availability and
sustainable management of water and sanitation for all,” and was reviewed in
the 2018 July session of the High-Level Political Forum. Here, countries
acknowledged that SDG 6, similarly to other SDGs, were being addressed in a
siloed manner. This lack of connection is considered as the major reason for countries
around the world not on track to meet the targets of SDG 6.
The
Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement on climate change, a set
of legal instruments referred to as protocols from the UNFCCC, is another
relevant international policy framework. The Paris Agreements highly recommends
to keep the global average temperature below 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels
in order to reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. It does this by
having all parties to the Agreement determine, plan, and regularly report
adaptation and mitigation measures, which are referred to as nationally
determined contributions. These NDCs are to be reviewed every five years,
although reporting the progress of NDCs is voluntary. Parties are also
encouraged to adopt national action plans, which are medium- to long-term
adaptation tactics that address and integrate the SDGs and 2030 agenda when
appropriate. The Paris Agreement also recognizes the essential roles of
non-state parties (including but not limited to local authorities, the private
sector, academia, marginalized populations, and civil society organizations
like Dar Si Hmad, play in reaching its goals.
The Paris Agreement is a landmark
international policy framework concerning climate change but as recognized in
the COP25 of 2019, achieving the goals of the Paris agreement have proven to be
more difficult than anticipated. Additionally, Frank Bainimarama, Prime
Minister of Fiji and President of COP23, said at the closing plenary session of
COP24 that the world needs “five times more ambition, five times more action”
in order to achieve the goals of the Agreement.
Water is not explicitly mentioned in the
Agreement, but water is seen as an “essential component of nearly all the
mitigation and adaptation strategies.” The UN report sees the exclusion of
water from the Agreement as an opportunity for international water
organizations to step up. International water organizations can include
themselves in international efforts by supporting the nationally determined
contributions of party countries. Additionally, water organizations can
integrate their work and the issue of water into the operational phase of a
country’s nationally determined contributions and national action plan.
Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030
Prior to the Sendai Framework for Disaster
Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework), disaster risk reduction focused on
disaster relief, instead of prevention. With the Sendai Framework, there is a shift
to focus onto prevention and preparedness. It also acknowledges how prevention-work
interacts with a number of drivers for disasters including climate change,
inequality, demographic change, and more.
The goal of the Sendai Framework is to achieve
“the substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods
and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental
assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries.” To reach this
overarching goal, it sets up seven standard global targets and four priorities
for action. Building on this model, member-states should provide publicly
available strategies regarding their national and local disaster risk
reduction. Although water is rarely explicitly mentioned in the Sendai Framework,
floods and storms constitute nearly 90% of the most severe natural disasters in
question.
International
water conventions
The report also discusses several
international water conventions such as the United Nations Convention on the
Law of Non-Navigational Watercourses (Watercourses Convention) and the
Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and
International Lakes (Water Convention). These conventions provide a framework
for addressing the impacts climate change has on water resources.
These provisions support adaptation measures
and acknowledge climate change through the principles of equitable and
reasonable use, ‘no significant harm’, and the precautionary principle. These
principles are important in order to prevent the unfair use of international
water courses, such as one country hoarding a water resource that naturally
disperses water to other countries.
The equitable and reasonable utilization of
water refers to article 5 of the Watercourses Convention, which states that
states with bodies of water running through their land will use water resources
in an “equitable and reasonable manner,” while also participating in “the use,
development, and protection of an international watercourse in an equitable and
reasonable manner.” This article acknowledges the right of all to use water
resources and the shared duty to protect and develop water resources. Also from
the Watercourses Convention, the ‘no significant harm’ rule requires states who
utilize watercourses in their territories to prevent causing significant harm
in other states.
The precautionary principle in environmental
regulations requires actions suspected to have environmentally harmful
consequences should be controlled sooner rather than later. It is based on the
adage ‘it is better to be safe than sorry’ and has gained recognition in the
international community as a principle that should guide public policy.
Most international water conventions, however,
do not explicitly mention climate change, but they do require member parties to
“prevent, control and reduce transboundary impacts on water resources,
including those related to adapting and mitigating climate change.”
Water
as a connector
The report states that water acts as a
connector to support the implementation of global agreements. After all, water is
present in, connects, and touches all aspects of human society – economic,
social, and environmental. The report states that strong political will and
leadership will be necessary in order to highlight and mainstream the value of
water in achieving the goals of global agreements. The report cautions that
there are discrepancies when transforming global recommendations to concrete
actions, hence strong leadership that acknowledges how water is not a
stand-alone sector is an important and necessary ingredient in achieving the
goals of all the aforementioned agreements.
Written by: Gari De Ramos, Dar Si Hmad former intern
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