Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
Published byMyra Knight Modified over 9 years ago
1
Can Benefit-Sharing be a path towards a cooperative use of Yarlung- Tsangpo/Brahmaputra?
2
Benefit-Sharing – The Concept Benefit-sharing implies ”win-win”, mutually beneficially agreements Benefit-sharing should be sought in parallel with, not versus, equitable water rights The need to identify the benefits is crucial and allows the development of positive-sum outcomes (Sadoff & Grey, 2005)
3
Benefit-Sharing – The Concept Benefitsto the river Benefitsfrom the river Benefitsbecause of the river Benefitsbeyond the river BENEFITS OF COOPERATION EnvironmentalSocialEconomicPolitical Source: Ana Cascao, 2008 “ A focus on sharing the benefits derived from the use of water, rather than the allocation of water itself, provides far greater scope for identifying mutually beneficial cooperative actions ”
4
Possibilities of Cooperation Primarily: cooperate on smaller, less-conflict-prone and more easily manageable projects Secondarily: hydropower development Why? Big projects not the norm: what we need is not minimum flows, but minimum interference with the flows (Iyer, 2011)
5
Benefits to the River Joint institution for data sharing and monitoring of water quality and quantity + Improves water quality, riverflow characteristics + Supports trust-building Empirical case: China´s Digital Yellow River Project – a success story! A Cross-border Integrated Digital Platform: The Yarlung-Tsangpo River Geographical Information Center (YZRGC)
6
Benefits from the River 1.For Regional floods: focus on cross-border monitoring & alarm systems, not just water storage 2.Ground water storage: more immediately & at lower costs compared to dams + agriculture production, disaster preparedness 3. Hydropower-cooperation + sharing of hydro-electricity
7
Benefits beyond the River Asia´s irrigation systems face 50 % increase in food demand by 2030 (Chellaney, 2011) Sino-Indian-Bangladeshi thread: agriculture sector is the largest water user, requires a common solution China´s leading role in irrigation water productivity: in 1980, only 0.667 kg grain/t. By 2007, it had risen to 1.393 kg/t (Jia, 2007) General cooperation: + improve water efficiency, improve water infrastructure, increase opportunities to utilize technologies
8
ASIAN CITIES AT RISK DUE TO SEA-LEVEL RISE Source: UN-HABITAT, 2008
9
Benefits beyond the River Climate adaptation can begin now: improve coordination to respond to water-related disasters Sino-Indian Cooperation: + developing skills in preventing the erosion of coastal land, developing sea water-desalination plants R&D Funds and technologies: provide and assist countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka with public goods
10
Obstacles to Benefit-Sharing Securitised river: Can water-derived benefits be shared equitably when the water itself cannot be? Generally: The economic imperative prevails, not water management Sino-Indian Dam-race
11
The Way Forward Address contentious issues while expanding cooperation on less contentious issues that creates ”spill over” effects into a larger basket of benefits Horizontal cross-sectoral approaches:initiate NGO, Academic and Industrial cooperation Why? Participation at all levels of river basin management and beyond contributes to cost and time savings
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.