Water negotiations: sharing a resource without borders
Water is a finite resource. Only 1% of the water covering the earth is available for human use. 85% of the world population lives in the driest half of the planet and 83% of all water-related disasters have happened in Asia. Where water availability is expected to decrease in the near future, the demand for water is estimated to increase. Water just flows. The way it flows does not follow country or political borders, it is a resource without borders. Countries need water for all sorts of activities, but are forced to negotiate its use because of its transboundary nature.
Water diplomacy
Competition both within states and between states over water can lead to souring relations and tension. If not managed well, this competition can worsen relations between divided parties and can even lead to a large-scale conflict. Countries thus face enormous challenges to organise and negotiate their access to freshwater and to prevent water conflicts to arise.
Water diplomacy can be broadly defined as all contact between (non-)state actors and at least one state or international governmental organisation over transboundary freshwater resources such as lake, river and aquifer basins. Water diplomacy is in fact a tool to achieve agreements over the fair distribution of water. It is a multidisciplinary tool that brings together technological knowledge, water management and diplomatic skills. When negotiating agreements, inputs are, for instance, hard data about natural circumstances combined with information about the society and the political environment.
Water experts negotiating
The Clingendael Academy trains water experts, studying at UNESCO-IHE, in negotiations. Central issues in water negotiations are, for example, the equal and fair distribution of water amongst groups, organising access to freshwater for all citizens, and the regulation of amounts of water flowing from upstream countries to downstream deltas. In the negotiations training emphasis is put on interests instead of on positions. Win-win solutions and package dealing are all trained in intensive simulations.
In the programme, Clingendael applies the methodology of learning by doing. The trainer Wilbur Perlot combines theoretical principles of negotiations with many practical assignments and role-plays in negotiation and mediation. One of the exercises is specifically designed to train issue linkage. Participants role-playing the European Union and a non-existing country have to negotiate an agreement in which, amongst others, the fair distribution of water, the cleaning up of a polluted river and the closing of a nuclear plant are discussed.
Preparing teams for negotiations
By the end of the training, the water experts realised that, although they might not always be present themselves at the negotiation table, they can and know now how to influence the process of water negotiations. Wilbur Perlot: “To understand negotiation processes better is crucial to deliver the best support to the actual negotiators. Then, water experts can seriously influence the outcome of water negotiations.”
Cooperation between Clingendael and UNESCO-IHE
The negotiations training for water experts is a module of UNESCO-IHE’s master programme Water Conflict Management. This year the participants came from Egypt, Brazil, Spain, Iran, Georgia, Nigeria, Rwanda and Vietnam. Some of them are currently enrolled in the master programme, others work for water companies and applied for this module as a short course.