The Global Dimension of Water Governance: Why the River Basin Approach Is No Longer Sufficient and Why Cooperative Action at Global Level Is Needed

The paper is based on the premise that any water system is an inseparable part of the environmental system as a whole and that the societal and environmental systems are inextricably bound up with each other as well. There is plenty of evidence that use of and changes to water systems cannot be understood separately from land use [1-3], spatial planning [4-5], soil management [6], climate change [7], demographic developments [8], economic consumption and production [9], public health [10], environmental management [11,12], international trade [13], politics [14], development cooperation [15] and national security [16,17]. In line with this understanding, it is assumed that ‗water governance‘ (the manner in which people deal with water) should be understood as an integral part of governance in a much broader sense. ‗Governance‘ in its general sense refers to the processes and systems through which a society operates. It relates to the broad social system of governing, which includes, but is not restricted to, the narrower perspective of government as the main decision-making political entity. Governance refers to both formal and informal structures, procedures and processes. According to the Global Water Partnership, ‗water governance‘ refers to the range of political, social, economic and administrative systems that are in place to develop and manage water resources, and the delivery of water services, at different levels of society [18]. The term ‗water governance‘ is preferred here above the term ‗water management‘ because the latter is mostly used in the traditional context of governments managing water systems, supply and demand, while we explicitly aim to take a broader perspective.