Background

Over half the world's population depends on transboundary aquatic ecosystems, making their management critical for global peace and security. This population's access to safe drinking water depends directly on the state of these aquatic ecosystems. Toxic or insufficiently treated wastewater discharges can erode or break the potability of water downstream. As a result, the actions taken in one country can have significant implications for people in other countries sharing the same aquatic ecosystems. When States fail to protect their river basins and aquatic ecosystems, social or inter-territorial conflicts may occur over scarce resources involving communities, productive sectors, and private actors. When ecosystems are transboundary, these conflicts can negatively affect relations between countries. However, water diplomacy provides an opportunity to transform these potential conflicts and their impact on the human rights to water and sanitation into opportunities for cooperation between countries that share river basins and aquatic ecosystems.

Key information sought

To facilitate the reception of inputs, the Special Rapporteur prepared a list of key information which he considers essential for the report. The list could be answered entirely or partially according to the expertise and experience of those actors willing to contribute to the Report.

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