International Water Disputes

PPT covering about international water disputes around the world and explaining further in depth about the topic

1. EVS PRESENTATION (International Water Disputes) Student Name : Rishabh Mishra Section : E Course : BBA (2 nd Year; 3 rd Semester)

2. International Water Disputes Water disputes is a term  describing a disputes between countries, states, or groups over the rights to access water resources . As freshwater is a vital, yet unevenly distributed natural resource, its availability often impacts the living and economic conditions of a country or region. Maritime boundary dispute is an alarming issue all over the world. The countries are now becoming very much concerned about their marine resources because the world economy has turned into ocean-based resources  Maritime boundary dispute is a dispute relating to demarcation of the different maritime zones between or among different coastal states. When the dispute gets serious, they try to settle it according to different methods of the settlement, but in most of the cases, the parties of the dispute fail to reach an agreement on settlement. Many bilateral or multilateral talks are held among them with the help of different organizations and mediator parties which delay the settlement. 

3. Reasons behind water disputes 1. Physical and economic water scarcity It is useful to make a difference between physical and economic water scarcity. If a region is experiencing physical scarcity, the upper limit of the annually renewable water for different uses (human and ecosystem uses including) has been surpassed and backstopping options such as groundwater mining from non-renewable resources are not available or already exhausted. In the case of economic water scarcity, sufficient amounts of water are available, but economic, human and institutional capacities for allocating it are severely limited. 2. Water for different uses As we focus on water control and development disputes, it is useful to make a difference between water for agriculture (approx. 70% of global withdrawal), for industry (20%), and for domestic uses (approx. 10%). While the quality of water is vital for drinking water, the quantity aspect is predominant in the agricultural sector. Water related conflicts can occur on local, national, regional and global level .

4. 3. National level At the national level, the question of land use and water rights, as well as infrastructure development, may lead to conflicts, yet these are generally dealt with in a non-violent manner. Rather than violent conflict, the challenge is more one of lack of sustainable development, or development on a national level that leads to conflict on a local. Both local and national water related conflicts are more likely in economically water scarce countries, as it is more a challenge of infrastructure and management, rather than about water quantity per se. 4. Reg ional level On a regional level, conflicts often arise over shared river basins or transboundary groundwater. Tensions at this level tend to be more diplomatic and economic, than violent. In the case of shared surface water, disputes often arise over the quantity and timing of upstream releases in relation to downstream demands.

5. 5. Climate change Climatic change will impact water availability globally. However, the direction and magnitude of regional changes in future precipitation is often not well known. Especially in the dryland regions of the globe, less frequent, higher intensity precipitation events are expected. For global temperatures, there exists a near uniform consensus on increasing trends as a function of present and future greenhouse gas forcing.

6. Some of water disputes in recent times Dispute over water in the Nile Basin Dispute in South China Sea Turkey, Syria and Iraq C onflict over the Euphrates-Tigris Dam projects and disputes in the Mekong River Basin in China Droughts, livestock prices and armed conflict in Somalia Yellow Sea Conflic t between China and Korean Peninsula Arctic Circle Territorial Dispute Indus River Basin Water allocation problem

7. Maritime Territorial Disputes (International) 1. South China Sea Territorial Dispute 2. Arctic Circle Territorial Dispute 3. India-Bangladesh Dispute

8. Arctic Circle Dispute India-Bangladesh Dispute South-China Sea Dispute

9. 1. South China Sea Dispute The South China Sea disputes involve both island and maritime claims by several sovereign states within the region, namely Brunei, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. An estimated US$3.37 trillion worth of global trade passes through the South China Sea annually, which accounts for a third of the global maritime trade. 80% of China's energy imports and 39.5 percent of China's total trade passes through the South China Sea. Reasons for disputes are mainly over c ontesting Claims Over Islands by different nations . These are the Paracel Islands, the Spratly Islands and the Scarborough Shoal. Under the Law of the Sea Convention, all states have a right to 200 nautical mile “exclusive economic zone” to exploit the resources of the sea and seabed, as measured from their land territories. Where these zones overlap, countries are obliged to negotiate with other claimants. This has yet to happen in the South China Sea, which is the source of many of the current tensions.

10. Background China’s sweeping claims of sovereignty over the sea—and the sea’s estimated 11 billion barrels of untapped  oil  and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—have antagonized competing claimants Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. As early as the 1970s, countries began to  claim  islands and various zones in the South China Sea, such as the Spratly Islands, which possess rich natural resources and fishing areas. In recent years, satellite imagery has shown China’s increased efforts to reclaim land in the South China Sea by physically increasing the size of islands or creating new islands altogether embroiling the situation in East and South-East Asian regions over territorial claims.

11. 2. Arctic Territorial Dispute The Arctic Circle is the polar region in north of the Earth. There are five different types of territory within this circle: land, internal waters, territorial seas, exclusive economic zones (EEZs), and international waters. Internal waters are waters adjacent to land, such as bays or rivers. Territorial seas are seas that extend for up to 12 nautical miles beyond land. EEZs are seas that extend 200 nautical miles from land where a sovereign state can exercise exclusive rights to marine resources. International waters are seas subject to customary international law rather than sovereign jurisdiction. There is one single disputed piece of land in the Arctic— Hans Island —which is disputed between Canada and Denmark because of its location in the middle of a strait.

12. Background The status of certain portions of the Arctic sea region is in dispute for various reasons. Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the  United States  all regard parts of the Arctic seas as national waters ( territorial waters  out to 12 nautical miles (22 km)) or  internal waters . There also are disputes regarding what passages constitute international seaways and rights to passage along them.  Under international law, the  North Pole  and the region of the  Arctic Ocean  surrounding it are not owned by any country. The five surrounding  Arctic  countries are limited to a territorial sea of 12  nautical miles . The waters and sea bottom that is not confirmed to be extended continental shelf beyond the exclusive economic zones are considered to be the "heritage of all mankind." Fisheries in these waters can only be limited by international treaty and exploration and exploitation of mineral resources on and below the seabed in these areas 

13. 3. India-Bangladesh Dispute India and Bangladesh share over 4000 kms of border, with the International Boundary being the largest land border that India shares. IN THE relationship between India and Bangladesh, the dispute over Ganga waters is an important component, perhaps the most important one. In the relationship between India and Bangladesh, the dispute over Ganga waters is an important component, perhaps the most important one. The construction of the Farakka Barrage in India along the Ganges has created water stress in Bangladesh by exacerbating the dry season and increasing the likelihood of flooding. The two countries have engaged in various levels of negotiations but have not yet agreed upon a solution to augment the Ganges to meet the needs of both states, particularly in the context of changing climate conditions.

14. Background This 2500km river is joined by the Yamuna river the largest tributary of the Brahmaputra, after this point it changes its name to Meghna. It eventually flows out into the bay of Bengal. In 1974, India opened the huge Farakka barrage 11km from the Bangladesh border. Further upstream, much of the water is divided to irrigate farms and provide water for major cities. Many of the major cities use the rivers to carry waste and industrial sources. Bangladesh suffer for this, get deprived of water, what it gets is often polluted.

15. Response and Mediation There have been both international and bilateral attempts at solving the Ganges water dispute. India and Bangladesh established the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission in 1972, with the purpose of negotiating an agreement on how to regulate water distribution. However, failed negotiations through the commission in 1976 led to the involvement of the United Nations General Assembly, which encouraged India and Bangladesh to continue negotiations at a ministerial level. In 1977, the Ganges Waters Agreement was negotiated, which regulated water distribution for five years. It was not until 1996 that a formal treaty was signed. The treaty is known as the Ganges Water-Sharing Treaty and regulates water distribution from Farakka Barrage over a thirty year period. However, the treaty fails to account for climate change impacts and their effects on the distribution of water.

16. Thank You