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41. Managing Africa's resources equitably demands accountable states

Author:
Peter Albrecht, Marie Ladekjær Gravesen, Frank Agyei, Kwesi Aning, and Richard Asante
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Africa’s vast natural resources present both opportunities and challenges. Securing their sustainable extraction depends on African states’ ability and willingness to enforce equitable legislation and policies. This does not take away the huge — and historical — responsibility of external actors from Asia, Europe and North America. In 2019, Ghana banned rosewood extraction following years of over-logging that had decimated these slow-growing trees. Nevertheless, illegal harvesting and export of rosewood have continued since the ban. Research shows that the Ghanaian state has been unable or unwilling to deal with the violations because some of its representatives profit from these illegal activities.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Water, Food, Governance, Accountability, Land Rights, Equity, and Resource Management
Political Geography:
Africa

42. Promoting water cooperation in the Middle East

Author:
Tobias von Lossow
Publication Date:
09-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations
Abstract:
Climate change exacerbates the pronounced water scarcity in the Middle East and also acts as a threat multiplier, for instance in the areas of health, food security and livelihoods. Increasing competition over water and the failure to address related challenges intensify tensions and conflicts within and between countries. Considerable tensions between countries and the polarising and emotional nature of water as an existential resource often prevent neighbouring states from concluding water agreements. Against this backdrop, the urgency for action is high, but the scope of action for traditional transboundary water agreements is limited. In response to this challenge, this report proposes five water-related action areas in which water cooperation is ‘reimagined’ and pursued via thematic entry points of national and regional interest. The report looks into established resource management frameworks, less politicised water-related challenges or topics of increasing political urgency with a strong water component – all of which are already being addressed and debated at national and local levels. By linking them with regional dialogue, capacity development and joint strategies, these thematic clusters provide promising spaces for inter-state water cooperation.
Topic:
Climate Change, International Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, Natural Resources, Water, and Resource Management
Political Geography:
Middle East

43. A Bold Plan for Saving the Colorado River

Author:
Mark Squillace
Publication Date:
09-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
Heading into the 2022-2023 water year, the condition of the Colorado River looked dire. The water levels on the River’s two main reservoirs (also the two largest reservoirs in the United States)—Lake Powell and Lake Mead—had both plummeted to below 25 percent of the infrastructure’s capacity. The numerous smaller reservoirs in the Upper Basin had been drawn down substantially to bolster the supply at Lake Powell. Still, it seemed plausible that the power head at Lake Powell—a hydroelectric facility that serves as many as 5.5 million people in six states—would be lost sometime in the following year. The winter of 2022-2023 delivered a massive snowpack that brought wel- come, if temporary, relief from this ominous situation. But the River remains in a perilous state. Over the past two decades, water users have routinely consumed more than the system’s average annual production. One good water year does not change the scientific consensus that the Colorado River Basin will likely experience hotter, dryer weather in future decades due to climate change. Aver- age flows in the River system will likely continue to decline.
Topic:
Natural Resources, Water, Rivers, and Resource Management
Political Geography:
North America, United States of America, and Colorado River

44. Ecological Threat Report 2023

Author:
Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP)
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
Abstract:
This is the fourth edition of the Ecological Threat Report (ETR), which analyses ecological threats in 221 independent states and territories. Produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), the report covers 3,594 sub-national areas which account for 99.99 per cent of the world's population. The ETR assesses threats relating to food insecurity, water risk, natural disasters, and demographic pressure. The research takes a multi-faceted approach by analysing ecological threats at the national, subnational, and city level, while also assessing the threats against societal resilience and levels of peace. Comparing ecological threats against societal resilience enables IEP to identify the global regions, countries, and subnational areas most at risk of an ecological disaster, both now and into the future. The key finding from the 2023 ETR is that without concerted international action, current levels of ecological degradation will substantially worsen, thereby intensifying a range of social issues, such as malnutrition and forced migration. Current conflicts will escalate and multiply as a result, creating further global insecurity. IEP estimates that by 2050, 2.8 billion people will reside in countries facing severe ecological threats, compared to 1.8 billion in 2023, with 1.1 billion of these people living in countries with low societal resilience.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Natural Disasters, Water, Food Security, Peace, Ecology, and Threat Assessment
Political Geography:
Global Focus

45. Green Recovery and Balancing Between Paradoxes: The Egyptian Holistic Approach to Promote Food Security and Tackle Related Challenges

Author:
Aya Badr
Publication Date:
04-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
IEMed/EuroMeSCo
Abstract:
This policy paper discusses the challenges to food security in Egypt, including climate change, water scarcity, global instability, and disruptions to supply chains. The paper argues that a holistic developmental approach is needed to promote food security as part of human development and social justice. The green recovery approach is suggested as a way to achieve inclusive and sustainable development, protect the environment, and tackle climate change. The paper also examines the gap between strategic objectives and the situation on the ground, and proposes alternative solutions such as promoting self-sufficiency, food sovereignty, rural development, and sustainable agricultural policies under the umbrella of green recovery policies, funds, and investments. The paper highlights the importance of addressing food insecurity in Egypt, as the country heavily relies on food imports, a situation that has worsened since the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Water, Food Security, Imports, and Supply Chains
Political Geography:
Middle East, North Africa, and Egypt

46. Human-Rights Approach to Water in the European Union on the 10th Anniversary of the ‘Right2Water’ Initiative

Author:
Olga Hałub-Kowalczyk
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
The 20 principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights adopted by the EU in 2017 include the right to access such basic services as water, sanitation, energy or transport. In the face of the climate crisis, the first of these rights is becoming a service which, due to the progression of global warming, could lose its universal and easily accessible nature. It seems reasonable to ask about the chances of developing a ‘right to water’ within the framework of the EU’s system, which would unambiguously oblige the public authorities to ensure access to this right. The trigger for this research was the ‘Right2Water’ European citizens’ initiative addressed to the European Commission in 2013, which contained postulates to recognise access to water as a human right. Ten years after the launch of this procedure, it is reasonable to acknowledge the verification of the actions taken by the EU and whether the evolving EU water policy can be assessed as being oriented towards ensuring the right to water for all EU-inhabitants. The aim of this paper justifies the use of legal-dogmatic research methodology. Regarding the analysis of legal acts, the rules of legal hermeneutics were applied, esp. grammar and teleological interpretation.
Topic:
Human Rights, Water, European Union, and Sanitation
Political Geography:
Europe

47. Iran’s Khuzestan: Thirst and Turmoil

Author:
International Crisis Group
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Episodes of unrest in Iran often unfold similarly: the government nods to public concerns, but then resorts to repression, setting the stage for another confrontation between state and society. The pattern is clearest in peripheral provinces like Khuzestan, where a pressing grievance is water scarcity.
Topic:
Natural Resources, Water, Governance, Services, and Civil Unrest
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, and Khuzestan

48. The Waterfall’s Shadow in the Mekong Region

Author:
Benjamin Jensen, Daniel F. Runde, and Thomas Bryja
Publication Date:
09-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Abstract:
The United States and its network of democratic partners and allies increasingly find themselves struggling to safeguard the rule of law, free markets, civil liberties, and human security in countries most at risk from climate change and its impact on water security. A network of authoritarian states led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are using infrastructure investment programs like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) alongside gray zone campaigns to gain access and influence, often in areas most at risk of further climate shock and water insecurity, particularly in the Mekong region. As a result, continuing to develop water strategies offers a viable means of integrating development and deterrence to address core human security challenges and deny further authoritarian access and influence across the world’s most climate-stressed societies.
Topic:
Defense Policy, Climate Change, Development, Water, Food Security, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Sustainability, and Economic Security
Political Geography:
Asia and Mekong River

49. Global South Perspectives on International Relations: new frameworks for Transboundary Water Analysis

Author:
Isabela Battistello Espindola and Maria Luísa Telarolli de Almeida Leite
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South
Institution:
Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South
Abstract:
International Relations (IR) are an interdisciplinary field of study; however, mainstream IR possesses a Western and North-centric focus that neglects or unequivocally reflects Global South perspectives and realities. Global events, including those related to transboundary water relations, are told from a Western and North perspective. That does not provide enough knowledge to understand developments occurring in the Global South, understood here as less economically developed countries, comprising a variety of states with diverse levels of economic, cultural, and political influence in the international order. In this sense, the article exposes some Latin American IR thinking, to offer new contributions to the process of theorizing transboundary water relations and broaden the field of view within IR and transboundary water. Following a qualitative methodology, based on the bibliographic revision of authors from the Global South in IR and hydropolitics, the paper argues that it is necessary to incorporate non-Western and non-Northern actors and thinking to explore how different actors challenge, support, and shape global and regional hydropolitics. The paper calls for more attention to how the analytical framework on transboundary water interactions can include Global South perspectives. The paper concludes with some suggestions for future research and policy discussions.
Topic:
International Relations, Water, Borders, and Hydropolitics
Political Geography:
Latin America and Global South

50. Reimagining the Future of Human Rights: Social Justice, Environmental Justice and Democracy in the Global South

Author:
Jessica Corredor Villamil
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Dejusticia
Abstract:
This book is the collective effort of participants from the 2018 Global Action-Research Workshop for Young Human Rights Advocates, which Dejusticia has been organizing annually since 2013. These workshops aim to strengthen the abilities of young activists from the global South to achieve a greater impact in their human rights work and to reach a wider audience through new forms of narration. This book is just one of the many outcomes of the 2018 workshop. The talented and committed authors of this volume—all contributors to previous editions as well—hail from countries as diverse as Brazil, Ghana, Russia, and Venezuela. They came together again in 2018 to think about the intersection between research and activism and what it holds for the future of human rights. That is why our selection process for the 2018 workshop participants sought to ensure that two people from each cohort were working from a transnational perspective. The specific goal of this particular workshop was to reflect on the future of human rights, for we sensed that we were at a crossroads. With the recent rise in populist authoritarian governments, the global increase in inequality, and the worsening climate crisis, a number of thought leaders have wondered whether we have reached “the endtimes of human rights” (Hopgood 2013). We thus wished to use this workshop as an opportunity to respond to some of the most frequent criticisms of the efficacy and legitimacy of the human rights movement by drawing on historical and empirical arguments and responding to the reflections of Kathryn Sikkink—one of the workshop’s instructors—in her book Evidence for Hope (2017). Human rights defenders and activists are working in a world that is constantly changing. It’s a more multipolar world; powerful voices have emerged from the global South, which has reshaped the way that human rights work is being done across the globe. Furthermore, the Arab Spring and other social mobilizations that have since taken place have put the spotlight on civil society’s ability to act and its convening 12 Jessica Corredor-Villamil authority. Nonetheless, despite the fairly positive outlook for civil society participation and the emergence of new voices, it is necessary to review the strategies that we have been using thus far and explore how to make them more effective. This book is extremely relevant today, three years after the workshop, as we are living in a transformative time. The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented socioeconomic and political impacts, including increases in inequality, unemployment, states’ abuses of their emergency powers, and the concentration of presidential power. Moreover, social networks have played a critical role in the sociopolitical arena, not only in light of their capacity to massively mobilize but also due to their propensity to foster political polarization and the use of misinformation for political ends. Thus, although we face a different context from the one in 2018, this volume serves as a guide of sorts to help us reconsider the effectiveness of our strategies as a human rights movement as we look toward the challenges being posed by the third century of this decade. The contributors to this book question traditional methods and explore new ways and visions of advancing human rights in the troubled context in which we live. Do the struggles of small-scale miners in Ghana, the use of strategic litigation in Lebanon, and the recognition of the rights of nature in India represent evidence for hope? Or is the opposite true, and, as shown in the chapters on martial law in the Philippines, the treatment of wastewater in Argentina, and in the internal conflict in Yemen, human rights have failed to deliver on their promises?
Topic:
Human Rights, Water, Authoritarianism, Democracy, Social Justice, Surveillance, Indigenous, COVID-19, Armed Conflict, and Environmental Justice
Political Geography:
Africa, South Asia, Middle East, India, Argentina, Philippines, Yemen, South America, Hungary, Lebanon, Venezuela, Ghana, and Global South