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In the Drina River Basin, shared mainly by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia, working together across borders and jointly addressing water and energy challenges is a key part of effective climate action and the green transition.
As part of the Sarajevo Energy and Climate Week (25-29…
Bringing together countries to share progress and experience on how to effectively manage their shared waters is a key characteristic of the Water Convention. Cooperation for the management of transboundary waters to promote sustainability, peace and security is the Convention’s mantra - especially…
Central Asian countries are actively working towards improving access to water and sanitation. Despite recent progress, Kazakhstan's aging infrastructure, lack of human resources and financial constraints still limit the access of rural population to improved water and sanitation services. In 2022…
Over two-thirds of Togo’s water resources are shared, notably through the Mono River basin (shared with Benin) and Volta River basin (shared with Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Mali), as well as aquifers in the coastal sedimentary basin (shared with Ghana, Benin and Nigeria).
In a…
On 8 June 2023 Namibia became the first Southern African country, and 8th country in Africa, to accede to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UN Water Convention).
Namibia, which has a population of some 2.5 million people, shares…
The world is facing multiple global crises and the 2030 deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is fast approaching. More and faster investment in sustainable infrastructure that supports the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is therefore needed. Public-Private…
Finland and the Republic of Namibia, both countries which are strong advocates for transboundary water cooperation in their respective regions and globally, have just embarked on a two-year pilot Twinning Initiative to exchange experiences, build capacity and strengthen bilateral cooperation on…
Guaranteeing safe access to drinking water and sanitation remains a challenge in the pan-European region, with 16 million people still lacking access to basic drinking water services and over 29 million people not having access to basic sanitation, including hundreds of thousands who have to…
How can regional and international cooperation be fostered in a region that faces unprecedented water scarcity? How can the benefits of this vital resource be shared to increase resilience to climate change?
The Third Baghdad International Water Conference titled "Water Scarcity, the Mesopotamian…
Uzbekistan is one of the world's largest producers of gold and uranium. In the last 40 years, Uzbekistan has built a strong mining industry, which is expected to grow in the years to come, given that only 20 % of the country’s territory has yet been explored. The expected rise in the number and…
Prevention of and preparedness for industrial accidents require special attention in Tajikistan, a country with a strong mining industry. The mountainous terrain of mining sites makes them highly susceptible to earthquakes, mudflows and floods, which can provoke Natech events (natural hazards…
Industrial safety and the prevention of accidental water pollution were high on Kazakhstan’s agenda this week, with the Second Meeting of the Inter-institutional Working Group on Tailings Safety and the Prevention of Accidental Water Pollution (IIWG).
The meeting brought together more than 60…
Joint efforts to harmonize data collection, strengthen monitoring and data exchange on water quality, develop early warning systems on water pollution at transboundary waters and improve collection and sharing of data on transboundary aquifers are needed for effective regional cooperation in…
A dilemma has galvanised the Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and infrastructure community for some time: How to ensure the bankability of pipelines of sustainable projects in emerging economies. PPP lenders and debt-providers continue to argue that there are not enough bankable projects to…
Armenia has been a pioneer in the use of the Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) model in the Caucasus to improve its infrastructure and public services. In 2000, nine years since its independence, it concluded its first wave of water concession agreements for the provision of drinking water and…
Kyrgyzstan has been one of the pioneers of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in Central Asia, with the introduction of a PPP model in its legal and regulatory framework since 2009, and the most recent PPP legislation enacted in 2021. On the back of this PPP experience, the Government has launched…
Accidental water pollution, which can be sudden and heavy as a result of industrial accidents, endangers people and the environment where chemical activities take place near a river, lake or water body. Accidental water pollution events can be triggered by natural hazards, such as floods, lightning…
Addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate disruption, pollution and nature loss, requires an innovative approach to financing as a way to rapidly and systemically address these interlinked issues. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) offers a financing mechanisms for infrastructure projects…
The majority of the ocean’s pollution originates from land-based sources and is washed into the ocean through rivers and other waterways. Turning the tide on marine pollution requires global action, and transboundary cooperation over shared waters forms part of the much-needed solution.
Maritime…
July is a month to start enjoying the harvest of fruits and vegetables for many in Europe and the topic of reducing food loss and waste becomes very urgent. In Serbia, agriculture is an important sector of the economy, contributing around 6% of GDP. In March 2022 food production accounted for 10.4…
Making drinking water and sanitation services affordable for all is key to guaranteeing the human rights to drinking water and sanitation. In the human rights framework, water and sanitation services are unaffordable when paying for them would compromise the ability to pay for other essential needs…
Namibia shares all its perennial rivers with neighboring countries and is both a mid-stream and downstream country. Transboundary water cooperation is therefore crucial for Namibia’s water security and sustainable socio-economic development. In today’s interconnected world, water availability is…
The UNECE region is not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Public procurement can be a powerful policy lever to accelerate progress. Some Governments in the UNECE region spend as much as 20 percent of GDP annually on procuring goods, services, and infrastructure.…
The Second High-Level International Conference on the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018-2028, held on 6-9 June 2022 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, was a strong call for acceleration of efforts on water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda. The meeting…
Adapting to climate change and managing the risks of natural and technological hazards in transboundary basins has become critical, as the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events - such as floods, droughts, landslides or storms - are on the rise in the wake of the changing climate. Timely…