PROGRAMME (with presentations hosted at unece.org)

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Opening remarks 10.00 – 11.40

–   Chair: Mr. Massimo Cozzone, Chair of the Bureau of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) (5 min) (video)

–   His Excellency Mr. Guido Walter La Tella, Ambassador of Italy to Argentina (10 min)

–   Video messages welcoming the participants (30 min)

• • Ms. Irina Bokova, Director General, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (Video - ENG)
  • Mr. Sven Alkalaj, Executive Secretary, UNECE (Video - ENG)
  • Ms. Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) (Video - ESP)
  • Ms. Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (Video - ENG)

–   Opening panel: Transboundary water cooperation: benefits, challenges and the situation in the Latin American and Caribbean region (50 min)

• Ms. Zelmira May, UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP)
• Ms. Caridad Canales, ECLAC
• Mr. Mish Hamid, Global Environment Facility (GEF) International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network (IW:LEARN)
• Mr. Alejandro Iza, Environmental Law Centre, IUCN
• Ms. Anna Galletti, University of Bologna Campus in Buenos Aires

–   Introduction to the workshop – Mr. Nicholas Bonvoisin, Secretary to the UNECE Water Convention (5 min)

Coffee break 11.40 – 12.00

Session 1: Making use of international legal instruments on water for advancing cooperation

Chair: Ms. Ximena Fuentes, Professor of Public International Law, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and Universidad de Chile

12.00 – 13.00

–   International water law: sources and principles – Ms. Lilian del Castillo Laborde, Professor, University of Buenos Aires School of Law (Presentation - ESP)

–   1992 UNECE Water Convention and the 1997 Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses (UN Watercourses Convention), their compatibility and complementarity – Mr. Attila Tanzi, Full Professor of International Law, University of Bologna (Presentation - ENG, ESP)

–   How the UNECE Water Convention promotes transboundary water cooperation – Mr. Nicholas Bonvoisin, Secretary to the UNECE Water Convention (Presentation - ENG, ESP)

–   Focus on groundwater: 2008 draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers of the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC Draft Articles) and 2012 UNECE Water Convention Model Provisions on Transboundary Groundwaters – Mr. Attila Tanzi, Full Professor of International Law, University of Bologna (Presentation - ENG, ESP)

13.00 – 13.30

Facilitated discussion with the audienc

Lunch 13.30 – 15.00

15.00 – 15.15: Setting the scene in the Latin American and Caribbean region

–   Presentation of the background study analyzing the situation of transboundary water cooperation in the Latin American and Caribbean region – Mr. Liber Martin, Professor, University of Mendoza (Presentation - ESP)

Session 2: Jointly adapting water management to climate change and variability in transboundary basins

Chair: Mr. Alejandro Iza, Environmental Law Centre, IUCN

15.15 – 16.30

–   Water and adaptation to climate change in transboundary basins: activities and lessons learnt under the UNECE Water Convention – Ms. Nataliya Nikiforova, UNECE Secretariat (Presentation - ENG, ESP)

–   Water cooperation and adaptation to climate change in the Mesoamerica region – Ms. Rocio Cordoba, IUCN Livelihoods and Climate Change Coordinator for Mesoamerica (Presentation - ESP)

–   Considering climate variability and change in the Amazon River Basin – Ms. Maria Apostolova, Deputy Project Coordinator, Integrated and Sustainable Management of Transboundary Water Resources in the Amazon River Basin Considering Climate Variability and Change, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (Presentation - ESP)

–   Transboundary and regional cooperation initiated by Mexico in the area of water and climate change adaptation – Mr. Roberto Salmón, Director General Mexican Commissioner, Mexican Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission between Mexico and the United States (Presentation - ESP)

–   Developing a transboundary vulnerability assessment and adaptation strategy in the Dniester river basin – Mr. Ilya Trombitsky, Executive Director, Eco-Tiras International Environmental Association of River Keepers (Presentation - ENG, ESP)

16.30 – 17.30

Facilitated discussion with the audience

Reception 19.00

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Session 3: Reconciling different interests and uses in transboundary basins, their requirements and compatibility for good water governance

Chair: Ms. Zelmira May, UNESCO IHP

10.00 – 10.15

–   Introduction

• Important elements for developing a fruitful transboundary cooperation – example of the Rhine – Mr. Ben van de Wetering, Secretary General, International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (Video - ENG) (Presentation - ENG, ESP)

10.15 – 11.15

–   Institutional and managerial frameworks for transboundary water cooperation in the UNECE region

• Cooperation on transboundary water management in the in the most international river basin, the Danube – Ms. Maria Galambos, Chief Adviser, Department of International Relations, Ministry of Rural Development, Hungary (Presentation - ENG, ESP)
• Reconciling flood protection and energy in the transboundary cooperation on water management between Finland and the Russian Federation – Ms. Minna Hanski, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland (Presentation - ENG, ESP)
• Cooperation in a transboundary karst aquifer system within a post-conflict area (DIKTAS Project) – Mr. Holger Treidel, UNESCO-IHP (Presentation - ENG, ESP)

–   Institutional and managerial frameworks for transboundary water cooperation in the Latin American and Caribbean region

• The International Shared Aquifer Resources Management (ISARM) Americas and Groundwater Governance: lessons learned from the LAC region – Ms. Ofelia Tujchneider, Universidad Nacional El Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina (Presentation - ESP)

Coffee break 11.30 – 11.45

11.45 – 12.45

• Transboundary water cooperation in the La Plata River Basin – Mr. José Luis Genta, Secretary General, Intergovernmental Committee of Coordination of La Plata Basin (Presentation - ESP)
• Transboundary water cooperation in the Goascorán River Basin – Mr. Oscar Everardo Chicas Rodríguez, Director General Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador (Presentation - ESP)
• Guarani Aquifer System: applying the ILC Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers – Mr. Jorge Santa Cruz, Former Technical Coordinator, Guarani Aquifer System project, Argentina (Presentation - ESP)
• Transboundary water cooperation in the Artibonite River Basin – Mr. Belizaire Dwinnel, Director, National Observatory on the Environment and Vulnerability, Haiti (Presentation - ESP)

12.45 – 13.30

Facilitated discussion with the audience

Lunch 13.30 – 15.00

Session 4: Fostering transboundary water cooperation in the Latin American and Caribbean region and UNECE region and between them

15.00 – 15.30

Co-chairs: Ms. Caridad Canales, Economic Affairs Officer, ECLAC, and Mr. Nicholas Bonvoisin, Secretary to the UNECE Water Convention

–   A multilevel approach for water cooperation: the governance perspective – Ms. Ximena Fuentes, Professor, University of Chile (Presentation - ESP)

–   The UNECE Water Convention: potential and opportunities for enhancing transboundary water cooperation – Mr. Massimo Cozzone, Chair of the Bureau of the UNECE Water Convention (Presentation - ENG, ESP)

15.30 – 16.15

Break out group discussion on the way forward to further promote the exchange between the UNECE region and the Latin American and Caribbean region, as well as the UNECE Water Convention and the role to be played by different partners

16.15 – 16.30

Presentation of the outcomes of the group discussion

16.30 – 17.00

Plenary discussion on the way forward to enhance transboundary water cooperation in the Latin American and Caribbean region, including through GEF projects, as well as on the role to be played by different partners

Session 5: Conclusions and closing

17.00 – 17.30

Chair: Mr. Massimo Cozzone, Chair of the Bureau of the UNECE Water Convention

–   Conclusions and closing by the Chair