In advance of the second session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-2), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a series of summary reports for policy makers that address the management of five kinds of transboundary waters: aquifers and groundwater systems; lakes and reservoirs; river basins; large marine ecosystems (LMEs); and the open ocean.
May 2016: In advance of the second session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-2), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a series of summary reports for policy makers that address the management of five kinds of transboundary waters: aquifers and groundwater systems; lakes and reservoirs; river basins; large marine ecosystems (LMEs); and the open ocean.
The publications are condensed versions of existing “status and future trends” assessments conducted by UNEP in cooperation with partners, under the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Transboundary Waters Assessment Programme (TWAP), which is coordinated through UNEP.
TWAP Volume 1 on ‘Transboundary aquifers and groundwater systems of Small Island Developing States’ (SIDS) reports on a baseline assessment of 199 transboundary aquifers and 42 SIDS’ groundwater systems carried out by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP).
TWAP Volume 2 on ‘Transboundary lakes and reservoirs’ compares the various threats to transboundary lakes and their ecosystem services. The report calls not only for the identification of threats, but also stakeholder collaboration that improves the governance of transboundary lake basins.
TWAP Volume 3 discusses ‘Transboundary river basins,’ and presents the results of the first global assessment of transboundary river basins, led by UNEP-DHI in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), and several universities.
TWAP Volume 4 focuses on ‘Large marine ecosystems’ and presents a global comparative assessment of 66 LMEs, led by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) in partnership with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and several universities. The report groups the LMEs into five categories of relative risk, from low to high, and includes an assessment of the Western Pacific Warm Pool.
TWAP Volume 5 reports on the ‘Open Ocean’ and discusses the Open Ocean Assessment carried out by IOC-UNESCO and UNEP, which links human well-being to ocean health, with respect to governance, climate change, ocean ecosystems, fisheries and pollution. The report also provides an integrated assessment of the human-ocean nexus. [TWAP Vol. 1: Transboundary aquifers and groundwater systems of Small Island Developing States: Status and trends: Summary for policy makers] [TWAP Vol. 2: Transboundary lakes and reservoirs: Status and future trends: Summary for policy makers] [TWAP Vol. 3: Transboundary river basins: Status and trends: Summary for policy makers] [TWAP Vol. 4: Large marine ecosystems: Status and trends: Summary for policy makers] [TWAP Vol. 5: The Open Ocean: Status and trends: Summary for policy makers] [GEF TWAP Web Page]