4.2.3. Water and Climate Change - Dr Mara Tignino, Platform for International Water Law/Geneva Water Hub, University of Geneva

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International Water Law

34 classificações

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University of Geneva

International Water Law

34 classificações

In recent decades, international law has undergone a series of major developments in order to accommodate the many new facets of freshwater management and protection. The adoption of universal, regional and basin instruments highlights how important it is to study the evolution of international water regulations and to be able to identify the main principles in this field. This course aims to provide the necessary background to understand and examine the regulation applicable to transboundary freshwaters especially to rivers, lakes and aquifers. It presents the principles and legal standards that govern the use, sharing, management and protection of these resources. The MOOC is made up of 5 modules. As each module addresses a different theme, they can be viewed in any order. However, the modules do follow a certain pedagogical logic and following in order will be especially helpful to those who are new to the subject. Each module is accompanied by an evaluation questionnaire or quiz. A certificate will be awarded to students who obtain an average of at least 80% in the quizzes. By the end of this course, you will be able to: 1) Describe the issues related to the regulation of transboundary freshwaters; 2) Explain how transboundary freshwater regulations have evolved; 3) Recall and interpret the key principles governing water resource regulation; 4) Understand the role of transboundary freshwater dispute settlement mechanisms in the development of international freshwater law (or to understand the role of international courts and tribunals in the resolution of conflicts) This MOOC was developed by the Platform for International Freshwater Law that is part of the Geneva Water Hub, assisted by the MOOC Team of the University of Geneva. Alongside the researchers and teachers of the Platform, several international experts have also participated. This MOOC is one of three courses supported by the Water Hub Geneva and the University of Geneva. The other MOOCS are "Water Management and Policy" (www.coursera.org/learn/gestioneau) and "Ecosystem Services: a method for sustainable development "(www.coursera.org/learn/ecosystem-services). The Global Water Program of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has funded this course. This MOOC was originally created in French. It has English subtitles.

Na lição

The Principles of the Law on Transboundary Water Resources II

This module highlights how other bodies of norms such as international environmental law, human rights and the law of climate change have contributed to the protection of transboundary freshwaters. The module presents the main international conventions that deal with the environment and details the principles that apply to the management of shared water resources (such as prevention, precaution and the obligation to conduct an environmental impact study). We will examine new legal instruments that take into account these aspects of international freshwater law via the water charters (such as for the Senegal River, the Niger River Basin, the Lake Chad Basin). The module will be concluded by a quiz worth 25% of the final mark. You must have at least 80% of the answers correct to pass the module.

4.2.1. The Contribution of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) to the Protection and Management of Water Resources - Professor Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Faculty of Law, University of Geneva6:27

4.2.2. The Fight against the Pollution of Water Resources - Dr Komlan Sangbana, Platform for International Water Law/Geneva Water Hub, University of Geneva8:01

4.2.3. Water and Climate Change - Dr Mara Tignino, Platform for International Water Law/Geneva Water Hub, University of Geneva8:24

4.2.4. The Water Charters in Africa: An Innovative Instrument for the Protection of the Aquatic Environment - Professor Makane Moïse Mbengue, Faculty of Law, Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva6:50

Conheça os instrutores

Laurence Boisson de Chazournes
Professor
Department of Public International Law and International Organization, Faculty of Law
Makane Moïse Mbengue
Professor
Faculty of Law and Institute of Environmental Sciences
Mara Tignino
Reader
Department of Public International Law and International Organization, Faculty of Law
Komlan Sangbana
Associate Researcher
Faculty of Law and Institute of Environmental Sciences

[MUSIC] [MUSIC]

[MUSIC] Water and adaptation to climate change.

The need to adapt ensures that water is included in climate negotiations.

However, I do want to illustrate how difficult it was for

water to be included in these negotiations.

Indeed, despite the fact that Article 4 of the Framework Convention on Climate Change

demands that all States cooperate

on the development of water resource adaptation plans,

the difficulty to implement these adaptation plans is evident

particularly on transboundary water resources.

So for my first point, we will look at these difficulties.

If you read the Paris Declaration adopted at COP21 in December 2015,

if you read the text,

you will find that water is not explicitly mentioned.

Does this mean that water

was not considered in the climate negotiations?

No.

In fact, the statement refers to the

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) where Objective 6 is dedicated to water.

Reading the preamble of the Paris Declaration,

human rights are mentioned.

And you know that water is an essential part of human rights.

Through these implicit mentions,

water is therefore included in the text of the Paris Declaration.

But there are issues, challenges that are related to this,

to the involvement of water in climate change,

especially concerning finance.

In 2005, an adaptation fund was created

however the fund has weak governance.

Developing countries can ask,

can submit projects, directly to the fund

but there has been a whole series of difficulties

due to the fact that the fund is financed by an international tax

taken from the credits of the Clean Development Mechanism. The first

agreement was only reached in 2011 (with Senegal).

There is another fund, the Green Climate Fund

and that is an important resource for adaptation measures.

In fact, this fund allocates its

resources equally to mitigation, to the reduction of CO2 emissions,

and to adaptation measures.

So we can see these two challenges.

The difficulty of including water into climate negotiations,

particularly in the Paris Declaration,

and the need for financial resources that are not easily accessible

in the context of the adaptation to climate change.

So I move to my second point. Here it is necessary to introduce

transboundary water

resource management and adaptation measures.

So how do we interpret adaptation and transboundary water resources?

On the sidelines of the climate negotiations in Paris,

the Paris Pact on adaptation was adopted which dealt with

transboundary water resources. The pact was promoted by

the International Network on Basin Organizations, INBO,

and there were around 200 signatories made up of governments,

international organizations and non-governmental organizations.

A pioneering role in the implementation of

adaptation plans on transboundary water resources was

played by the Convention of the United Nations Economic Commission for

Europe, the Convention on the Protection and Use of

Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes.

Here for the first time, in 2009, the guidelines

on water and climate change adaptation were adopted.

And these guidelines were adopted by the

parties, and its text provides a reference framework not only for the

States Parties to the Convention but also for other States.

As we know, the UNECE Water Convention

has a global scope and therefore all

States who are members of the United Nations can accede to this Convention.

Secondly, I draw your attention to the establishment of a

Task Force on Water and Climate Change which happened in 2007

and then the adoption within the Protocol on Water and Health

of the Guidelines on access to water and

sanitation when extreme weather events occur.

There were a number of important pilot projects supported

by the secretariat of the Water Convention.

In particular, the pilot projects on the Chu-Talas River in Central Asia, (shared

between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) and also on the Danube and Sava.

So who funds these climate change adaptation measures

when it concerns a transboundary water resources?

This is the real challenge.

Indeed, projects were mainly local and national.

Most of these local and national projects mention water but

always within a national context and the difficulty arises when

international players like the World Bank are involved.

In 2014, the World Bank established a global water practice

but financing projects on

a transboundary basin was difficult because of the lack of agreement between the riparian states.

So this is a challenge.

I would like to conclude with some

initiatives on transboundary water resources that were

also supported by the secretariat of the Water Convention.

The first example is an initiative and an

action plan that was adopted by the Mekong River Commission.

Various factors were taken into account

by the Commission, including ecosystems, biodiversity,

food security, but also socio-economic variables.

Another very important example is the Danube Commission

and the Sava River Commission which have adopted

action frameworks designed to deal with flood prevention.

Finally I would like to mention a case in Latin America on a river shared

between Peru and Ecuador, which shows the importance of

exchange of data and information between riparian States,

and this, in my opinion, is really the starting point for the implementation of

adaptation measures on transboundary water resources.

MUSIC

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