By generating political support for transboundary cooperation, pioneering and award-winning NGO EcoPeace Middle East seeks to build a lasting peace in the region.
Basins at Risk: Local Conflict, Global Cooperation As climate change intensifies, water-related stresses could potenitally spark conflict among parties that rely on the same diminishing water resources for survival.
“Droughts and other extreme events are exacerbating marginal living standards in many Asian, African, and Middle Eastern nations, where widespread political instability and failed states already are national security concerns,” said Goodman, who is currently researching the interdependent relationship between national security and water as a Wilson Center senior fellow.
Mutually Assured Scarcity: Sharing Risks in the Jordan River Basin Many of the sub-state conflict incidents identified by the Basins at Risk study took place in the Jordan River Basin, which “has not historically been an easy place to work on water cooperation,” said Yoffe.
More than 96 percent of the Jordan’s flow has been diverted by upstream users, leaving mostly saline and sewage water behind, said Yana Abu Taleb, the Jordanian deputy director for award-winning environmental NGO EcoPeace Middle East.
As a result, people in the Lower Jordan Valley are facing shortages in water and electricity, as well as a growing sanitation crisis.
The Good Water Neighbors project has promoted consensus on the need to resolve regional water issues, encouraging Israel to supply more water to Palestinian cities, raising awareness about the negative impacts of poor water management, and strengthening institutional capacities for collaboration in the region.
At the same time, Jordan could sell more solar-generated electricity to Palestine and Israel to power the desalination plants.
Palestine would no longer be solely dependent on Israel for water and energy; and Jordan and Israel would benefit financially while strengthening the region’s renewable energy economy.
Adopting “healthy interdependencies, we believe, is a powerful way to promote regional water and energy stability as a foundation for long-lasting peace between our people,” said Bromberg.