Bangkok, 21 May 2007–Governments, head of water bodies and leading experts and scholars from around the globe met today in Bangkok to look at ways to improve the management of transboundary freshwater resources, an area of growing concern globally.  The water crisis is more of a governance crisis than a lack of physical resource itself.

The ability of governments to manage these waters, and the environmental dimension, particularly in light of climate change and its impact on an already stressed resource, were the focus of the conference, which broughtover 100participants, from all continents.

“Freshwater resources are increasingly under stress as a result of overuse, pollution and other human activities. This conference offers us an opportunity to bring to the fore some of the challenges we face and actions that we can take,” said H.E. Mr. SuwitKhunkitti, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Government of the Kingdom of Thailand.

The conference emphasized the need to shore up cross-border mechanisms for management of transboundary waters, many of which are weak or non-existent. At present, 158 of the 263 international river basins worldwide have no cooperative frameworks, and those that do are weak.

‘Around the globe, people rely on these waters for their daily needs and livelihoods. We need to buttress these organizations if we are to better manage freshwater resourcesto meet these needs. This will entail developing the legal instruments and management tools that they need at river basin, sub-regional and regional levels,” saidBakary Kante, UNEP Director of Division of Environmental Law and Conventions.

Nearly 40% of the world’s population live in transboundary river basins, covering nearly 50% of the earths total land surface and account for approximately 60% of global freshwater flow. It is estimated that 1.1 billion people currently lack access to clean water and that some 2.6 billion people, almost half the total population of developing countries, do not have access to adequate sanitation.

Climate change is expected to exacerbate these challenges. A sixth of the world’s population living in snowmelt-fed river basins will experience increased water shortages resulting from the reduction of snow cover and subsequent run-off. Extreme events like floods will become more frequent and violent, and droughts longer.

The ‘Bangkok Recommendations for Action’ is one of the key outcomes of the conference, which also looked at promoting the environmental dimensions of water goverance.

The conference on ‘Strengthening Transboundary Freshwater – the Environmental Sustainability Challenge’ was organized by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Government of Thailand, in Bangkok.

For More Information:

Satwant Kaur, Regional Information Officer, UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, E-mail: kaur@un.org, Tel: +662 2882127, Mobile: +6683 9086000.

Mr. SuchartSirijungsakul, Bureau of International Cooperation, Department of Water Resources, Phone: +66 (0) 81847 1621, Email: suchart.s@dwr.mail.go.th

UNEP ROAP News Release 09/08