This motion is submitted in collaboration with the Secretariat of the UNECE Water Convention. Transboundary river and lake basins account for nearly half of the earth`s land surface and generate roughly 60% of global freshwater flow. There are also more than 600 shared aquifers. 40% of the world's population lives in shared basins. These shared waters create environmental, social, economic and political interdependencies. Transboundary waters in many areas of the world are however not used sustainably and cooperation in many transboundary basins is not adequate to tackle the existing and emerging challenges. The situation is projected to aggravate in the coming decades owing to increasing pressures from population growth, agriculture, energy production and the impacts of climate change. Transboundary water cooperation is therefore increasingly vital to ensure effective and sustainable management of shared resources.
The Watercourses Convention, entered into force in 2014, and the Water Convention, opened to all UN Member States in 2016, provide a legal and intergovernmental framework for countries to work together to ensure transboundary waters are governed in an equitable and sustainable manner. The two conventions collectively consolidate the principles and rules that underpin contemporary international water law and, although the conventions articulate their obligations in a different manner, their objectives and principles are the same. Recognizing the importance of transboundary water cooperation for sustainable development and peace, the UN Secretary-General has, in recent years, repeatedly called upon all countries to accede and fully implement the two UN global water conventions.
The Water Convention has proven its effectiveness over the past 25 years and continues to foster the implementation of integrated water resources management, particularly through the basin approach. It is a powerful tool to promote and operationalize the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG6 and such related goals as SGD2, SDG3, SDG7, SDG13, SDG15, SDG16 and SDG17). The Programme of Work for 2019-2021 intends to support the implementation of the Convention with the overall objective to manage transboundary waters worldwide in cooperation between riparian countries to promote sustainable development and peace (available at https://www.unece.org/index.php?id=51910).
WWF works from the Amazon to the Zambezi, running freshwater conservation projects in more than 50 countries – from protecting iconic species like sturgeon and river dolphins, to restoring wetlands and keeping rivers free flowing. We’re also constantly pushing for better protection for freshwater habitats at a national and international level. Ultimately, though, what’s needed is a transformation in the way water is managed across entire river basins – both the river and the land that drains water into it; therefore, it places tremendous importance on transboundary cooperation. We need businesses to take collective responsibility for shared water resources (we call this water stewardship), finance institutions to invest in sustainable water projects, and governments to protect freshwater habitats and ensure everyone’s right to enough clean water. With our new global strategy and range of innovative initiatives, WWF’s Freshwater of our work is undergoing a paradigm shift. Our focus is on securing systemic and landscape level change making transboundary cooperation key.

• Agrárminisztérium [Hungary]
• Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz [Germany]
• Ministère de l’Environnement et du développement durable [Senegal]
• Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères [France]
• Ministry of the Environment of Finland [Finland]
• Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust [United Kingdom]
• World Wide Fund for Nature - International [Switzerland]