The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) convened an assessment workshop for the Syr Darya Basin covering Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The assessment is part of the ‘nexus approach' designed to link water, food security, and energy.
4 December 2014: The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) convened an assessment workshop for the Syr Darya Basin covering Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The assessment is part of the ‘nexus approach’ designed to link water, food security and energy.
The Syr Darya Basin, one of the main tributaries to the Aral Sea, is facing a number of threats from overuse, land-based pollution and climate change. The workshop aimed to address such threats by presenting opportunities for and potential benefits from closer collaboration between sectors and countries.
Discussions during the workshop identified a number of potential areas for increased cooperation including enhanced energy efficiency and production and the development of markets for resource trading. In order to achieve transboundary and cross-sectoral collaboration, however, participants identified the need for an enabling legal framework.
The Global Water Partnership (GWP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) jointly convened the workshop with UNECE. The workshop took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from 2-4 December, 2014. [UNECE Press Release] [UNECE Website on Water-Food-Energy-Ecosystem Nexus]