Environmental peacebuilding in the Jordan river and Nile the river basins
Important lessons on how environmental peacebuilding may succeed, are emerging from the Jordan river basin and the Nile river basin. Both basins feature incentive structures that emphasize the benefits of participating in dialogue and the costs for not doing so. This was the object of recent discussions at the International Expert Forum, exploring the connections between environmental issues, peacebuilding and conflict.
In the Jordan river basin, the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) has helped setup a multi-stakeholder platform comprised of representatives from Israel, Jordan, and Palestine, including 28 local communities. This platform allows for cooperative decision-making on transboundary issues and shows how environmental challenges can become an incentive for dialogue rather than a cause of conflict between groups that are normally at odds with one another.
In the Nile Basin, SIWI contributes to promoting diplomacy between the countries that run along its length, facilitating dialogue about key issues, such as disputes over water allocation and infrastructure between upstream and downstream countries.
Research by Elisabeth Gilmore from the University of Maryland highlighted that poor governance may be the catalyst that allows environmental factors, such as the overdrawing of natural resources or climate change, to give rise to conflict.
The conclusion which emerged from the Forum is that governance failings may result in overexploitation of natural resources. In a region that is otherwise marked by tensions and hostility governance is crucial to environmental peacebuilding and avoiding the worst effects of climate change.