23 November 2015
MOP7 Marks Global Opening of UNECE Water Convention, Adopts Reporting Mechanism
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The seventh Meeting of the Parties (MOP7) to the 1992 Helsinki Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes marked the global opening of the Convention to countries beyond the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) region, adopted a reporting mechanism, and endorsed a policy guidance note on assessing the benefits of transboundary cooperation on water issues.

United Nations19 November 2015: The seventh Meeting of the Parties (MOP7) to the 1992 Helsinki Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes marked the global opening of the Convention to countries beyond the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) region, adopted a reporting mechanism, and endorsed a policy guidance note on assessing the benefits of transboundary cooperation on water issues.

MOP7 convened from 17-19 November in Budapest, Hungary. More than 350 people from 74 countries attended the meeting, including parties, non-party states, representatives of UN and other governmental and non-governmental organizations, and academia.

Participants hailed the meeting as a milestone in the history of the Water Convention, which was previously a UNECE regional convention. The Meeting took place as the process of ratifying an amendment making this a global Convention was almost complete, and some non-UNECE countries have begun preparations to accede to the Convention.

MOP7 addressed many substantive issues, including support for implementation and compliance, adoption of a reporting mechanism, climate change adaptation in transboundary basins, benefits of transboundary water cooperation, contingency planning for industrial accidents, and thematic assessment of the water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus in transboundary waters, among other matters. The meeting adopted the programme of work for 2016–2018 and approved a budget of US$8.7 million.

A high-level segment took place on the first day of the MOP, with a Special Session on the global opening of the Water Convention and its contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other global commitments. Throughout the conference, many speakers highlighted the importance of international cooperation for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and averting conflict over water scarcity. Some emphasized the need for Water Convention parties to be involved in setting indicators on transboundary water management within the global indicator framework for the SDGs.

Delegates endorsed the related ‘Policy Guidance Note on the Benefits of Transboundary Water Cooperation: Identification, Assessment and Communication,’ which helps policymakers and other actors undertake benefit assessments for their country or region through a participatory process.

Delegates celebrated their agreement to the ‘Paris Pact on water and adaptation to climate change in the basins of rivers, lakes and aquifers,’ an adaptation commitment signed by over 162 countries, which will be presented at the 21st Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris in December 2015.

They also welcomed the National Policy Dialogues (NPDs) taking place under the EU Water Initiative, discussed achievements under the Protocol on Water and Health, and heard a report on the informal gathering of parties to the UN Watercourses Convention, which took place in Paris in September 2015. [MOP7 Web Page] [UNECE Opening Press Release on MOP7] [UNECE Press Release on Policy Guidance Note] [Publication: Policy Guidance Note on the Benefits of Transboundary Water Cooperation] [UN Web Page on Paris Pact] [IISD RS Coverage of MOP7]


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