International Issues

Climate change will affect everyone but developing countries will be hit hardest, soonest and have the least capacity to respond. South East Asia is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change with its extensive, heavily populated coastlines, large agricultural sectors and large sections of the population living under $2 or even $1 a day.

December this year in Copenhagen the countries of the world are going to sign a treaty that will change our life as we know it. Their commitments today will affect our quality of life tomorrow.

This declaration presents summary findings and a global action agenda that address the urgent need to protect rivers globally, as proclaimed at the 10^th International River symposium and International Environmental Flows Conference, held in Brisbane, Australia, on 3-6 September 2007.  The conference was attended by more than 800 scientists, economists, engineers, resource managers an

This article published in the Journal of the Indian Law Institute analyses a limited number of regulatory changes that have been proposed in recent years to put the water law framework in line with proposed policy initiatives, provides a general analysis of the law and policy changes that have been introduced and finally, provides some pointers for moving beyond existing reforms with a view to correct some of the perceived shortcomings of existing water law reforms.

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.  

Image & Content Courtesy: SaciWATERs

Crossing Boundaries Project Newsletter aims to share the initiatives undertaken by SaciWATERs and the Partner Institutions in order to fulfill the objectives of the Crossing Boundaries Project. It also seeks to share ideas, goals, concerns and research with partners, civil society organizations, international NGOs, UN agencies and other important players in the water policy sector.

The 24^th Volume of the CB NEWS features highlights of the participation of the Crossing Boundaries team at the World Water Forum 5, Istanbul, 2009. It also brings to you consolidated reports of the recent Staff Training Programme and Reader Workshop organised by SaciWATERs.

The collection includes the following four case studies from India:

UN committee on economic, social and cultural rights in 2002 issued a general comment on the right to water. However, provision of safe drinking water remains a challenge.

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The South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People has published a critique of the India's National Action Plan on Climate change (NAPCC), titled: "There is little Hope here". India is more vulnerable to the climate change impacts than the US, the Europe or even China. And the poor within India, whose contribution to the climate change is the least, are the most vulnerable, considering their dependence on natural resources. The report, which includes recommendations of several civil society consultations, concludes that the NAPCC has been formulated through a most non transparent process; it will help neither the poor, nor the climate. The climate change provides a unique opportunity to make India's development path people and environment friendly, but the NAPCC completely misses that opportunity. There is little doubt that the responsibility of having created this specter that threatens our very survival, lies with the policies and practices of the counties of the Global North. It is also true that the western world, the UN and all the various multilateral agencies, including the UNFCCC have not managed to come up with anything more than feeble, cosmetic efforts towards addressing this challenge. Given these circumstances, the western world has forfeited the right to lecture on this issue.

The International Conference on Water Resources Policy in South Asia was held in Colombo from December 17-20 at the Taj Samudra. The conference inauguration took off with a grand opening in the presence of 150 guests including special invitees from Sri Lanka.