IWC6-logo.png
Complicated Water Issues Demand Comprehensive Efforts: Technical work alone will not get the job done, senior officials say at international waters conference
Dubrovnik, Croatia, 17 October 2011 – Solutions to international water problems demand that those most involved raise their gaze from the technical requirements of the job and engage politicians, governments and the citizens of the world in the cause.
“Because our planet is made up of water systems across borders, little progress is going to be made on poverty reduction, on sustainable livelihoods, on public health, on food security, on relations among countries unless water and natural resource conflicts come to the center of the table of discussions,” said Alfred M. Duda, Senior Advisor of the Global Environment Facility, (GEF) an investment organization that funds environmental projects.
“We can not just plan, study, sample, analyze, meet, write reports, pat ourselves on the back,” he said. “It is GEF’s job to help countries sign political and legal agreements.”
Engaging the larger world and political leaders is a necessary part of GEF’s comprehensive approach to improving international waters as the investment facility moves into the future, he said.
Duda made his comments at the opening session of the Sixth GEF Biennial International Waters Conference.
large_dudabyMax%20Gudczinski_0.jpg
The four-day conference, which continues until 20 October, has brought together about 300 participants involved in the environment facility’s International Waters (IW) portfolio of projects.
The conference is organized by GEF and the United Nations Development Programme in cooperation with the Croatian government.
Participants include IW project managers, representatives of beneficiary countries, non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies and private sector partners. Each is involved in at least one of the 71 active projects in 80 countries that make up the current IW portfolio.
“This is a very important meeting because it is the equivalent of a conference of the parties in our focal area,” Duda said.
The opening session included remarks by speakers including the Mayor of Dubrovnik and Maria Luisa Silva Mejias, coordinator of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP).
“The symbiosis between GEF International Waters, with its focus on transboundary water issues and UNEP/MAP, which facilitates environmental governance and secures sustainable implementation of agreed measures is almost unparalleled, which we are convinced will contribute to sustainable results,” Mejias said.
When it comes to water issues, the problems are immediate, said Fritz Holzwarth, Deputy Director General of the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. They demand immediate action.
“Our real challenge is not only to make good projects,” Holzwarth said. “The real challenge is that we
mariaby-max-gudczinski.jpg
Since 2011 is the 20th Anniversary of GEF, the conference theme is Raising the Bar: 20 Years of GEF Transboundary Water Results.
In his welcoming remarks, Andre Laperriere, GEF’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer said that the environment facility is no longer a teenager. It continues to grow with new plans for its International Waters focal area.
The conference comes shortly before the GEF council meeting next month. At the meeting, $100 million in new International Waters projects will be considered. This investment, if approved, would come with another $1.1 billion in cofinancing.
“This is the highest ever proposed by the GEF and the GEF is the largest international financing mechanism for this type of activity,” Laperriere said. “So I think it is quite a significant moment that we are going through.”
The primary goal of the conference is to convene stakeholders in IW projects so they can share knowledge, best practices and experience. In preconference workshops for project managers, participants tackled issues including nutrient reduction, global warming and climate change in large marine ecosystems and methods for developing projects that will ensure transboundary cooperation and success.
The conference is also a chance to take stock of all 71 projects in the portfolio. After the opening session, participants heard details about the progress of GEF’s International Waters projects in the Mediterranean, some of which involve programs in the conference’s host country.
“The International Waters projects are important because the world is fragmented with political jurisdictions,” Duda said. “We try to get beyond that to help balance water uses among countries so there can be power generation, so there can be food security, so there can be an environment that functions, so there can be water supply, so the business community can operate and so that ecosystems can be sustained for our children.”
Indeed, the transboundary and interdisciplinary focus of the IW projects are critical for their success, Duda said.
“The old way that we have done it, sector by sector and nation by nation is depleting and degrading the planet and its water systems,” he said. “These projects have a chance to reverse that.”
IWC6People-by-Max-Gudczinski.jpg
PHOTO CREDITS
Max Gudczinski/gudpicture.com
ABOUT GEF
The Global Environment Facility is an independent financial organization that provides grants to developing countries and countries with economies in transition to address global economic problems. It unites 182 member governments that work in partnership with 10 agencies, non-governmental organizations, international institutions and private companies. The partners are the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, The World Bank, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Inter-American Development Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development and United Nations Industrial Development Organization. GEF-funded projects target six focal areas: biodiversity, climate change, land degradation, the ozone layer, persistent organic pollutants and international waters. Since it was founded in 1991, GEF has invested $9.2 billion in grants, leveraged $40 billion in co-financing. It has supported more than 2,700 projects in 168 countries.
ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL WATERS FOCAL AREA
The GEF International Waters (IW) focal area targets transboundary water systems including river basins, lakes, groundwater and large marine ecosystems. Since its founding in 1991, the portfolio has comprised about 170 projects in more than 149 countries worldwide. IW grants have amounted to more than $1.2 billion. The investment has led to $7 billion in co-financing.
CONTACT
Mishal Hardenberg Hamid, International Waters: Learning Exchange and Resource Network, 095 844, 9273, +1 202 657 5290, or mish@iwlearn.org
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information visit http://iwlearn.net/abt_iwlearn/events/iwc6