DeltasUNite: UN-CCRD Global Dialogue, Contributions and Inputs to Sharpen the Governance and Policy Framework (A Path to The Hague Event)

Nov 20, 2023 | University of Vermont
Burlington, VT and online

A consortium of about a dozen organizations representing both global South and North has recently coalesced and recognized by the United Nations towards setting up a new UN Convention on Conserving River Deltas (UNCCRD). As part of this global initiative, we will be organizing several hybrid events geared towards engaging diverse stakeholders, especially representatives of vulnerable communities from key river deltas and scientists involved in understanding the risks faced by global delta communities. The present event is a multi-stakeholder’s dialogue is focusing on the policy and governance perspective needed for UNCCRD operationalization, to build an integrative "highlands to oceans" approaches for conserving river deltas. Also, to well-capture and reflect on the document the participatory transboundary and global cooperation to resolve some of the associated and lingering climate induced conflicts, social and environmental challenges caused by sea level rise, saltwater intrusion and other deltas challenges.

The new convention (UNCCRD) leading to this discussion is of urgent importance owing to the increasing numbers of science documentation and news reports of the worsening climate crises. This foregoing has further underscored the urgent need for accelerated and coordinate science, social, community and international efforts, to find solutions to the cascading water resource challenges leading to human migration especially among young people, water shortage to poverty, hunger and communal conflicts as well as new disease outbreaks. The river deltas are especially the epicenters of these crises both due to loss of freshwater from highlands and rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion from oceans. The UN can facilitate an international multistakeholder platform to provide the urgently needed dialogue and transformative action, to be called “United Nations Convention on River Deltas (UN-CCRD)”. This platform will provide the participation and inclusive leadership urgently needed to spontaneously address the impending future water challenges and looming global crises of food, conflict, and freshwater availability.

UNCCRD will be the game changing collaborative solution that will blend long expected indigenous knowledge with science. Also, coordinate governmental interventions across vertical and horizontal levels, as well as establish a global network of community scientists and deltas interest groups will include civil society organisations. The UN-CCRD platform is aimed at resolving some of the existing and future concerns of the peaceful coexistence and conflicts in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), South Asian and South-East Asian countries with shared trans-boundary water resources in the future. Further, it will help to mitigate the growing agitations of indigenous peoples and local communities including young people, women and elderly – mostly vulnerable to the cascading climate change impacts in our deltas globally.

Previously, and on September 22nd 2023, we organized the first global event providing for more community voices in the design of UNCCRD management policies and governance structures were from river deltas in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. The present is the second event will be held on November 20, 2023 to gather more inputs and suggestions from international and governance experts on the policy and governance solutions relevant to draft the UN-CCRD.

November 20th 2023

9:00-12:00 (ET)

Co-Hosted By:

African Centre for Climate Actions and Rural Development Initiative (ACCARD, Nigeria)
Transboundary Water In-Cooperation Network (TWIN Secretariat: Center for the Advancement of Public
Action at Bennington College, USA; Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security at UVM, USA)
The Consortium for Capacity Building (CCB at UCO, Boulder, USA)
Nigeria’s Bayelsa State Government
Environmental Peacebuilding Association (USA)