Experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia joined colleagues from Europe in Bonn on Thursday (2 May) to discuss issues related to water resources and scarcity in the South Caucasus. The workshop "Issues of water scarcity in the South Caucasus: a potential for future conflict or a basis for future co-operation" was jointly organised by LINKS Europe Foundation, The ReStart Initiative and the Candid Foundation.
Participants were welcomed to the workshop by Dr Dennis Sammut, Director of LINKS Europe who also chaired the meeting, and there were short introductory remarks by Ms Kati Meittunen on behalf of the European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus. There was then a short presentation on current water challenges in the South Caucasus, and the impact of climate change, by Anri Stepanyan, LINKS Europe Research Assistant.
Participants were then able to hear reports from the results of a number of meetings held in 2023 on the topic of water in the framework of the process of building trust and confidence in the region. Frank Garrison from Berlin's Hertie School, and Emin Milli and Isabelle McRae from ReStart Initiative summed up the conclusions of the meetings, including the proposal to set up a South Caucasus Water Forum.
Also participating in the Workshop in Bonn were the members of the core team of the Joint Armenia-Azerbaijan Experts Liaison Group on Confidence-building measures in the South Caucasus (JOLIG), namely Stepan Grigorian, Benyamin Poghosyan and Johnny Melikyan from Armenia and Ahmad Alili and Ramazan Samadov from Azerbaijan, who were joined by Dr Tamar Bagratia, a Georgian expert on environmental issues, and Oli Brown from Chatham House.
In the course of the discussions, participants emphasised the need for the governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to start co-operating on water issues in the region, given the interconnectivity of water resources, and the increasing impact of climate change on water resources in the region. Participants noted the positive role that can be played by professionals and experts working on water management issues and agreed that space needs to be created for them to meet and work together.
Participants noted that water issues can potentially be important topics around which to build trust and confidence in the region, but equally they may easily become a source of future tensions, and possibly even conflict. Civil society engagement to provide early warning of emerging problems was necessary.
The workshop co-ordinator was Maximiliaan van Lange, Chief of Staff at LINKS Europe. For more information on the workshop please contact him at Maximiliaan@links-europe.eu
source: commonspace.eu
Photo: Participants at the workshop "Issues of water scarcity in the South Caucasus: a potential for future conflict or a basis for future co-operation" was jointly organised by LINKS Europe Foundation, The ReStart Initiative and the Candid Foundation in Bonn on 2 May 2024 (c) commonspace.eu