Water doesn’t recognise borders, but people do. As the climate crisis deepens, cooperation over this shared resource could be key to global peace and security
Water is the essential resource. There can be no life, let alone development, without it.
As the United Nations World Water Development Report 2024: Water for Prosperity and Peace notes, water is not only required to meet basic human needs but also feeds into food and energy security, economic development and environmental integrity. People’s ability to thrive and grow is reliant on access to a safe, stable water supply. When this access is threatened, conflict and instability grow. According to the Pacific Institute, “violence over water resources increased dramatically in 2023”, in line with observed trends from the last decade.
As the climate crisis continues to worsen and increase water insecurity, it would be easy to lose hope and prepare for the worst, particularly as conflict increases around the globe in general. However, this year’s World Water Week and the UN Report have taken a different approach. They put forward the argument that on top of the many other purposes it serves; water can also act as a foundation for building peace and security. After all, water doesn’t recognise borders; rivers, lakes and aquifers are shared by countries, requiring cooperation to ensure that all can thrive.
What is needed is a change in perspective.
Too often, the interconnectivity of global development issues is ignored, with experts in different sectors failing to communicate with each other and recognise the ways in which their focus areas are affecting each other and how collaboration could allow for more effective solutions. World Water Week recognised the need to move beyond the siloed approach with a programme that encourages collaboration and expands perspectives. SRI Executive’s partnerships across the water space and the wider global development sector have allowed us to see how useful expanding your knowledge base can be. We often encourage our clients to consider candidates from unique backgrounds whose experience and expertise bring new perspectives and advantages to their organisations. Through our search process, we advise clients on how best to integrate such candidates into their organisations while still ensuring that they meet the basic requirements of the position. Even a shift in job descriptions, placing focus on skills such as diplomacy, systems thinking or networking, can widen the candidate pool and expand your hiring options. The right talent can be transformative for an organisation.
Shifting your perspective on how water can be managed and utilised is crucial to pushing development forward.
There are a number of ways that water can be used to support greater economic development and encourage collaboration both within and across national borders. Investing in water, sanitation and hygiene services, as an example, directly contributes to greater health, education and employment outcomes. When basic needs are met, humans are able to focus on the bigger issues, moving beyond struggling to survive to thriving at the personal and community level. This boost to development immediately acts as a counter to hardships that can feed into the instability that causes conflicts at both the national and international level. When framed this way, the interconnected nature of global development issues is clear. It is why World Water Week’s programme included sessions on engaging with a wide range of stakeholders in the pursuit of effective water management solutions, including the important role diverse funding sources, such as private philanthropy and DFIs, can play in pushing projects forward. SRI Executive recognises how impactful this kind of diverse funding can be to achieving sustainable impact. It has been a key factor in how we support our clients within the water sector in the development of market-led strategies that give them the tools they need to approach non-traditional funding partners, which has led to a dramatic increase in their funding. When we recognise the links between global development issues, it becomes obvious that we need to find opportunities to work together, bridging the existing gaps between different focus areas.
Diplomacy is key to fostering collaboration.
Investing in building infrastructure can only take us part of the way. As the climate crisis grows and water resources are both depleted by drought and corrupted by flooding, diplomacy must be at the forefront of development efforts. Though water may not recognise borders, people do, and a shared resource can become a direct source of conflict when safe water becomes scarce. With a large proportion of the world’s freshwater sources being transboundary, people must have the tools to manage water collaboratively. It is crucial that those in power know how to negotiate in good faith and that a balance is struck between national benefit and communal need. After all, what can benefit one nation can directly threaten another. A new dam for hydroelectric power for one region can cut off another’s water access. Similarly, new irrigation projects that bring needed water to farmers can put strain on limited resources that are unable to replenish due to overuse. As these essential freshwater sources become depleted due to overuse and drought, there must be a strong framework in place for diplomatic action, ensuring that development projects take into account water’s role as a shared resource within and across nations and work with communities to make sure that they can all benefit from these efforts.
Our own work with boards, particularly those consisting of member countries, has shown us how crucial diplomacy can be to achieving impact. Board members must understand political realities across regions as they work to set strategies and advise organisations on how to push their vision forward. Having both placed board members and carried out governance reviews, we believe that this ability to work across regions and sectors will be crucial to future development efforts. It might even be necessary to look into deeper assessments of current governance models to ensure that they are capable of undertaking the relationship-building and expanded thinking needed to achieve their mission in the face of growing challenges.
The future of water is dependent on communication.
There will always be difficulties when working with an essential resource, and times when infrastructural development will see greater benefit for one community over another. As such, what must remain at the forefront of water development plans is an awareness of how different communities are dependent on the source being utilised and that communication must be a priority. Water can be a tool for furthering peace, but only if the experts working in this space can learn the diplomatic skills needed to encourage clear and open communication around this resource and highlight the benefits of negotiating shared use to national governments and local leaders. This might require recruiting from previously unconsidered sectors or coaching your existing team to build these skills. SRI Executive has found that key skills can be strengthened when leaders have the necessary support. Facilitating discussions allows for equitable water allocation of transboundary sources and can create the stability needed for greater collaboration and investment. When we look beyond borders and focus on shared needs, the way many countries must when it comes to water access, we can foster the connections required for lasting prosperity and peace, creating the relationships needed to overcome sources of conflict and work towards solutions that benefit everyone.
Relevant Links:
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000388948
https://www.worldwaterweek.org/
