Source material and useful links

30/4/2022: The fragmentation of the Mekong River due to the construction of large-scale hydropower dams illustrates the inability of downstream states to shape the Mekong Agreement of 1995 into regional aims, rather than centred around national interests. The Mekong River is the lifeblood of countries in the region .

Source: East Asia Forum

Freshwater planetary boundary oversteps the line

27/4/2022: Humanity’s modification of the water cycle has pushed the world further beyond a safe operating space for continued life on Earth, say scientists. Water is the sixth boundary to be transgressed, out of the nine identified by the Planetary Boundaries Framework, first published in 2009.

Source: Mongabay

Worrying insights from assessment of water security in Africa

6/4/2022: Only 29 African countries have made progress in water security over the past three to five years. Twenty-five have made none. The UN’s concept of water security encompasses various criteria and more effort is needed to establish global standards for data and assessment.

Source: The Conversation

Sharing cross-border water resources: Cooperation or conflict?

6/4/2022: From the Euphrates to the Mekong, dams that ensure one country's water supply risk leaving others parched. With 40% of the global population dependent on rivers that cross international borders, climate change is aggravating tensions.

Source: DW

UN report looks underfoot, to solve global water crises

21/3/2022: While groundwater accounts for 99 per cent of all running freshwater on Earth, it is often undervalued, mismanaged, and overexploited, according to a new report by UNESCO. Water use is projected to grow by roughly one per cent annually over the next 30 years, and dependency on groundwater is expected to rise.

Source: UN News

Ethiopia begins generating power from Nile dam

20/2/2022: Ethiopia has launched power generation from the largest dam on the continent aiming to provide electricity to the unserved 60 percent of its population. The Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam is opposed by Egypt and Sudan as harming their water needs.

Source: The East African

Pakistan’s looming water crisis

13/11/2021: By 2025, Pakistan may face an acute water crisis. The problem is not due to water availability, but the mismanagement of water resources.

Source: East Asia Forum

African water activists push back on privatization

8/11/2021: Calls from activists to governments to resist pressure to privatize water are growing, as access to clean water still eludes 76% of people in sub-Saharan Africa. More government regulation may be the answer to the risks associated with privatization.

Source: Devex

Half of the world is failing to manage its water resources

18/10/2021: Over half the countries across the world are unlikely to achieve the 2030 target date for managing their water resources sustainably, according to a report by the World Meteorological Organization. As water know no borders, more coordination between countries will be necessary.

Source: Devex

Where on earth is a water-secure world?

7/10/2021: The water-related Sustainable Development Goals have turned out to be over-ambitious. Sadly, not a single country can currently boast that it is, indeed, water secure.

Source: Inter Press Service

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