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Web Coverage/ Summary
IISD Reporting Services (IISD RS) is producing daily web coverage and will produce a summary report from this meeting on 3 November 2012. |
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Sixth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention)
28-30 November 2012 | Rome, Italy
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Daily web coverage (click on the following links to see our daily web pages)
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Highlights for Wednesday, 28 November 2012
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The sixth session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP6) to the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) opened on 28 November 2012, in the Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Italy.
Sibylle Vermont, Switzerland, Chair of MOP6, opened the meeting. She highlighted the city of Rome and its renowned Fountain of Four Rivers as an appropriate venue to promote transboundary water cooperation. Rocco Buttiglione, Vice-President, Chamber of Deputies, on behalf of Gianfranco Fini, President, Chamber of Deputies, Italy, said that water resourcesare a humanity common good and therefore an international governance system is needed to manage them. Corrado Clini, Minister for the Environment, Land and Sea, Italy, stated his country’s commitment to support the Convention and recognized efficient integrated water resource management (IWRM) as a pillar of sustainable development.
Delivering a message on behalf of Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, Andrey Vasilyev, Deputy Executive Secretary, UNECE, encouraged countries outside the UNECE region to join the Convention. He stressed the Water Convention and the UN Convention on Watercourses are complementary to each other and called for coherent implementation. Vasilyev then highlighted key achievements of the Convention, namely: strengthened implementation and compliance; the Second Assessment of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and Groundwaters; adaptation to climate change; national policy dialogues; and projects on the ground.
Participants heard a report by the Secretariat on the status of ratification and on credentials, and then began tackling the substantive agenda issues. A high-level segment addressed the main achievements and remaining challenges for the Convention and views and expectations for a globalized convention, with panel presentations and numerous interventions by participants. During the discussion, Iraq and Tunisia expressed interest in becoming Parties to the Water Convention.
In the afternoon, the general segment discussed the opening of the Convention and started reviewing past activities and discussing future ones.
In the evening, an ad-hoc working group met to review and agree on the draft decision on accession by non-UNECE countries. Two side events took place during the lunch break on: adapting to climate change in transboundary basins-future work guided by lessons learned; and the UN Watercourses Convention and the UNECE Water Convention-value, future perspectives and potential synergies.
In the evening, the Italian government hosted a dinner for MOP6 participants.
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From L-R: Corrado Clini, Minister for the Environment, Land and Sea, Italy; Rocco Buttiglione, Vice-President, Italian Chamber of Deputies; Francesca Bernardini, UNECE Secretariat; Andrey Vasilyev, Deputy Executive Secretary, UNECE; Sibylle Vermont, Chair of MOP6, Switzerland
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From L-R: Lea Kauppi, Director General, Finnish Environment Insitute (FEI), Finland; Ahmet Muhammedov, Deputy Minister of Water Economy, Turkmenistan; Peter Kovacs, State Secretary for Water, Ministry of Rural Development, Hungary; Uladzimir Tsalka, Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, Belarus; Arben Demeti, Deputy Minister of Environment, Forests and Administration of Waters, Albania; Marina Seliverstova, Head of the Federal Agency for Water Resources, the Russian Federation
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From L-R: Ivan Zavadsky, Senior Water Resources Management Specialist, Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Secretariat; Ramesh Chandra Sen, Minister of Water, Bangladesh; Mohamad Al-Shaibani, Minister of Water Resources, Iraq; Moncer Rekaya, Director, Water Resources Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Tunisia; Alejandro Iza, Head of the Environmental Law Programme, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); Sujiro Seam, Deputy Director of Global Public Goods, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France
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The panel during the side-event: The UN Watercourses Convention and the UNECE Water Convention: value, future perspectives and potential synergies. From L-R: Alistair Rieu Clarke, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO - IHP) Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science; Phani Daskalopoulou-Livada, Legal Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Greece; Sujiro Seam, Deputy Director of Global Public Goods, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France; Seppo Rekolainen, Finland; Shirouk Al-Abayachi, Iraq; Attila Tanzi, University of Bologna, Italy
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The panel during the side-event: Adapting to climate change in transboundary basins - future work guided by lessons learned. From L-R: Sergei Zavyalov, Head, Air and Water Impact Management,
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental, Belarus; Phan Nguyen, Programme Coordinator, Climate Change and Adaptation Initiative, Mekong River Commission Secretariat; Vasyl Stashuk, Head, State Agency of Water Resources, Ukraine; John Matthews, Alliance for Global Water Adaptation; Chair Hugo Aschwanden, Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland; Evgeny Simonov, Coordinator,
Rivers without Boundaries International Coalition; Bruce Stewart, Director,
Climate and Water Department,
World Meteorological Organization; Joost Buntsma, Co-Chair of the Task Force on Water and Climate, Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, the Netherlands
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