Hydrodiplomacy and Climate Change for Peace in the Middle East: Case of Jordan River Basin
Hydrodiplomacy and Climate Change for Peace in the Middle East: Case of Jordan River Basin
Conference at the Senate, Paris, 13 December 2016
Salles Monnerville & Vaugirard
The 2
nd Edition of the Conference
“Hydrodiplomacy and climate change for peace in the Middle East: Case of the Jordan River Basin”, will be held on the 13
th of December 2016 at the French Senate. It aims to explore the interest of advocating the concept of Hydrodiplomacy on the Jordan Basin, to ensure abundant water of good quality to future generations in the Middle East and foster a culture of water for peace in this region.
The Conference will focus on the following main themes:
- Hydrodiplomacy of Jordan for Security of Future Generations
- Hydrodiplomacy for Equitable Water sharing of Jordan River Basin: Integrated Management within UN Legal Framework
- Hydrodiplomacy and Innovative Approaches: Which Technological and Financial Tools?
This conference follows the successful organization of the 1
st Edition focused on the case of “Orontes River Basin” (1
st December 2015, French Senate – Paris) during which a publication issued by UNESCO on “
Science diplomacy and trans-boundary water management. The Orontes River case” was also successfully launched.
Documents:
register online to paticipate at the conference
Agenda
| 14:00–14:15 |
Opening speech |
| |
|
|
|
- Mr. Olivier Cadic, French Senator representing the French citizens abroad
- Mrs. Sophie Auconie, Governor of the Water World Council
- Mr. Arthur Nazarian, Minister of Energy and Water – Lebanon
|
| Moderator |
Mr. Fadi Comair, Honorary President of MENBO and Director General of Hydraulic and Electric Resources at the Ministry of Energy and Water in Lebanon |
14 :15-14 :40 Roundtable : The active forces of the Mediterranean Dialogue: Joint action for
Peace (25min)
- Mr. Miguel Garcia-herraiz, Deputy Secretary General responsible for Water and Environment, Union for Mediterranean
- Mr. Jean-Louis Guigou, President of IPEMED
- Prof. Michael Scoullos, President of GWP Med
- Mr. Loïc Fauchon, Honorary president of World Water Council and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Marseille Water Supply Group (SEM) ,
|
|
| 14:50–15:40 |
Session 1 - Hydro-diplomacy in the Jordan River for the Security of Future Generations |
Taking into consideration that climate change has led to the social and environmental instability of South-Eastern Mediterranean countries characterized, on the one hand by water and energy stress and food problems, and on the other hand by a very strong displacement of population and a migration from south-east to the north resulting in an increasing number of conflicts between the prompt, it is therefore necessary to launch a dialog on the applicability of the
"Pact of Paris" in relation to the specificities of the countries concerned by the transboundary basins.
Despite the fact that COP 21 primarily focused on energy related issues, the commitments of non-governmental organisations have dealt with the more general framework of the
"Water-Energy-Food Nexus". It is in this spirit that the next conference of the parties conducted their work at COP 22 in Marrakech. It is to be noted that in a world where the population is growing quickly, issues related to food and the evolution of food consumption will inevitably have a significant impact on the management of natural resources and climate change.
In addition, and in light of the complex challenges of sustainable development in the Mediterranean region and the major challenges facing the Middle East region, it is important to launch the Mediterranean Sustainable Development Observatory (OMDD) in order to anticipate and assess the implementation of national plans and regional programs proposing solutions related to water, to the development and diffusion of renewable energy and to food security.
This essential and beneficial initiative for securing the well-being of future generations should gather a group of experts and a Strategic Council to guide the OMDD towards implementing the recommendations of COP 21 and 22.
|
|
| Chairmans:
(10 min) |
Mr.Brice Lalonde, President of the Water Academy
Mr. XXXX, Senator (to be confirmed) |
|
|
| Discussed subjects |
- Hydrodiplomacy Challenges: Impact of conflict and climate change: (Mr. Fadi Comair, Honorary President of MENBO) 7min
- Dialogue for equitable sharing and reasonable use: win-win process (Mr. Franck Galland, Mr. Pierre Berthelot) 12 min
- Water Management in the Jordan Basin: Inherent Conflicts Between Sovereignty and International Law.(Prof. David Eaton, UT Austin) 7min
- Mediterranean Observatory on Sustainable Development: A platform for Monitoring and Control (Mr. Ilan Juran,, NYU,UNESCO-IHP) 7min
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| 15:40–16:20 |
Session 2 –Hydrodiplomacy for Equitable Water sharing of Jordan River Basin :Integrated Management within a UN Legal Framework |
Formulating negotiation strategies on international watercourses based on IWRM is an opportunity for the development of a transboundary basin to handle multiple uses of water, avoiding potential conflicts between riparian countries. The countries bordering the Jordan River Basin should therefore rely on regional cooperation (bilateral or multilateral treaties) to ensure their food security needs and promote the development of an economic policy while preserving the international basin’s ecosystems. This management approach, which proposes to link water to the economic policy of the international basin aims to find solutions to achieve an agreement based on a fair and reasonable sharing of the resource.
International bodies such as the UN, the European Union and the UfM have already undertaken in the Middle East several attempts to guide nations towards the concept of cooperation to deal with the lack of water in their country and this is based on the principles of the UNECE or the United Nations 1997 Convention on International watercourses and the Water Framework Directive of the EU. Technical and economic parameters related to resource management are planned as follows: the volume of water used relatively to the quantity available, the quality of water resources, financial income, preservation of the river’s ecosystems, treatment and reuse of wastewater.
As part of the negotiation process on the Jordan Basin, it is important to motivate the most disadvantaged countries to work to benefit from regional cooperation and take advantage of the socio-economic plans that are conducted at the regional level by the United Nations and the European Union to safeguard their food security. Jordan is trying to develop with Palestine the project "Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal (RSDSC)" which foresees the mobilization of more than one billion cubic meters of non-conventional water to meet the needs. This project has been estimated at 10 billion US dollars by the World Bank and brings together all the riparian countries except Syria and Lebanon that expressed its intention to join the dialogue on this project.
| Chairmans:
(10min) |
Mr. Jean-Francois Donzier, Secretary General of INBO, Director General of OIEau
Mr. XXXX, Senator ( to be confirmed) |
| Discussed Subjects |
- UN Legislative Instruments (UN 1997 Convention, UNECE Convention 1992) for the equitable sharing and reasonable use of Jordan river Basin (Mr. Jean-Louis Oliver, S.G Academy of Water and Ms. Chantal Demilecamps, Secretariat of UNECE Convention) 12 min
- Guidelines for transboundary basins Management:
- Lessons learned and good practices for Integrated Management (UNECE, INBO), (Mr. Pierre Roussel, OIEau)7min
- The Pact of Paris, applicability on Jordan River Basin (Mr. Eric Tardieu, OIEau) 7min |
| |
|
|
|
|
| 16:40–17:40 |
Session 3 – Hydrodiplomacy and Innovative Approaches : Which Technological and Financial Tools? |
| |
|
The equitable sharing of water resources in the Middle East must become a global objective to meet current needs of the society and prepare to satisfy the needs of future generations. Hydro-diplomacy is a purely technical (first priority) and policy-related (second priority) approach that could facilitate the implementation of integrated water resources management at the hydro-geographic basin, called "new water mass", which includes both conventional and non-conventional waters.
Middle East countries should use Hydrodiplomacy in order to manage their conflicts on a permanent basis. For all these countries, the challenge is to use the strategy of dialogue and regional cooperation as an opportunity to achieve together coordinated progress in the areas of human and economic development, water resource protection and cultural advancement. The consolidation of a water culture for peace is essential for the countries bordering the Jordan Basin.
Financing and consideration of ethical values at the country level, as well as at the population level, is an essential and transverse component of sustainable development, especially in fighting against climate change and adapting to its consequences. Public policies will not take full effect if they are defined and conducted with complacency, but with transparency and sincerity, especially as regards coherence between the resources actually implemented by the Parties and targets set in the Paris Declaration.
It is also essential that a civic ethic is promoted to face climate change: it is a profound reform of individual and collective behavior leading everyone to be aware of their responsibilities and to adopt responsible behavior in their lifestyles.
1st Roundtable: Technological Tools Developed for Jordan River Basin
| Chairmans:
(10min) |
Prof. Michael Scoullos, President of GWP Med
Mr. XXXX, Senator (to be confirmed)
|
| Discussed subjects
2nd Roundtable
17:20-18-00
Chairmans:
(10min)
Discussed subjects
18:15–18:30
|
- Application of ICT for the management of the Jordan Basin (Prof. Daene McKinney, University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Georges Comair, World Bank) 12 min
- Water accounting for Jordan River Basin Management (Mr. Gonzalo Espinoza, UNESCO IHE) 7min
- Experience of W-SMART: Management of Water Security, Evaluation, Research and Technology (Mr. Bruno Nguyen, UNESCO IHP, W-Smart) 7min
Launch of Regional Cooperation (30min)
M. Shaddad Attili, Palestinian Minister, responsible for negotiation
Mr. XXX, Senator (to be confirmed)
- Initiative for Peace for Jordan River Basin: Project of Red-Dead Canal, rehabilitation of Dead Sea and integration of water Energy nexus (Mr. Munqeth Mehyar, Director of EcoPeace in Jordan) 12min
- Innovative financing mechanisms for climate change adaptation (Ms. Kelly ROBIN, IPEMED) 10min
- Ethics within the context of Public- private partnership (Mr. Herve Lainé, Academy of Ethics and Mr. XXXX)12min
Answers to written questions and compiled by the secretariat (15 mins)
Closing Statement and Recommendation by H.E Mr. Miguel Ángel Moratinos.
Thanking by Mr. Olivier Cadic, Senator representing the French citizens abroad and Mr. Fadi Comair, Honorary President of MENBO. |
.jpg)
Yorumlarınızı Bizimle Paylaşın
Sadece üyelerimiz yorum yapabilir, hemen ücretsiz üye olmak için Tıklayın