UNITAR Online Catalogue
CIFAL Scotland - International Water Cooperation and Transboundary Aquifers
Background
97% of global available freshwater resources are stored underground and there are more than 400 transboundary aquifers worldwide. However, the paucity of specific legal and institutional arrangements to manage these aquifers in addition to the need to further deepen the understanding of the science policy interaction and the emergence of the payment concept for ecosystem services, linked to groundwater resources, calls for further debate. The Southern African Development Community region presents a specific example in this respect. This international roundtable conference will provide a unique opportunity to discuss transboundary aquifer management from a multi-disciplinary perspective, focusing on its scientific-hydrogeological, socio-economic and legal-institutional dimensions.
Event Objectives
- To celebrate the work of the UN in International Water Cooperation and therole that Scotland can play therein
- To underpin the role of science in decision making in the context of transboundary aquifer cooperation
- To discuss the role of emerging legal instruments in the management oftransboundary aquifers
- To explore the value of water and the role it plays in transboundary aquifer cooperation
Content and Structure
The conference will be framed around the following debates:
- 2013 UN International Year of Water Cooperation and Scotland as a Hydro nation
- Emerging challenges in Groundwater Science
- Linkages between Groundwater Science and Transboundary Aquifer Law and Policy
- Transboundary Aquifer Management: An Environmental Accounting Perspective
- Transboundary Aquifer Cooperation: From Global to Regional
Targeted Audience
Target audience was identified through discussions with the partners and stakeholders:
- Government and Non-Government science, research and policy organisations
- Academics and researchers
- International organisations involved in integrated water resources management