Water cooperation must remain at core of climate action, urges UNECE at COP28

The 6th IPCC assessment and the 2023 IPCC synthesis report recognize transboundary risks across the food, energy and water sectors, requiring climate-informed transboundary management.

UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean stated that “Climate change is already having huge impacts on water resources, which for 153 countries worldwide are shared with their neighbours. I encourage all UN Member States to join the UN Water Convention and to catalyse climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts through transboundary water cooperation. This can benefit peace and stability, clean energy production, flood and drought resilience, sanitation, financing for adaptation in shared basins, and much more.”
 
This call was further backed up by a new policy brief issued by the Transboundary Water Cooperation Coalition, comprising over 40 governments and organizations. The brief sets out how, by sharing hydrological and other data, countries can better understand and address transboundary risks, improve forecasting for extreme events and coordinate their disaster responses.

• Find out more and read the policy brief here.