R. Klingbeil, M. Al-Hamdi & R. Majdalani, 2014. Water and Inter-generational Justice in the Arab Region.

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
Sustainable Development Policies Division (SDPD)
WATER AND INTER-GENERATIONAL JUSTICE IN THE ARAB REGION
Ralf Klingbeil, Mohammed Al-Hamdi, Roula Majdalani
Conference on Social Water Studies in the MENA Region: State of the Art and Perspectives, German Jordanian University, Madaba, Jordan, 28-29 Sep 2014

UN ESCWA, 2014. Social Justice in the Policies of Arab States.
Credit: Nicholas Clive Marcroft

Outline
•Situation Analysis:
•Water Resources
•Access to Water and Sanitation
•Issues related to Inter-generational Justice
•Access to Water and Sanitation Today, Increasing Development Opportunites for People Tomorrow
•Reserving Water for Future Uses and/or Investing Benefits from Today‘s Use for Future Generations
•Perspectives ?

Main Directions
Scarcity - Equity - Justice
•Water scarcity, challenge to
•water and environmental management,
•overall sustainable socio-economic development, nationally and regionally
•Overcoming water scarcity by
•more equitable allocation of water to all parts of society,
•potential to reduce social inequality and contribute to social justice
•Taking into account future generation’s
•water needs, and
•development opportunities – heart of sustainable development –
contributes to
•improved inter-generational equity,
•inter-generational justice between today and tomorrow

UN ESCWA
Total Renewable Water [m3/cap/yr]
UN ESCWA, 2009.
Water Stress
Water Scarcity
Extreme Water Scarcity

Water from Different Sources
Conventional and Non-conventional Water Resources
•Conventional renewable water resources from surface and groundwater are often not anymore sufficient to sustain livelihoods and lifestyles,
•Countries depend to varying degree on different sources of water:
•Internally renewable water resources,
•Externally renewable water resources,
•Non-renewable water reserves, and
•Non-conventional water
•Desalination,
•Treated wastewater reuse, …
www.escwa.un.org/about/gov/sessions/router.asp?SessionID=28

The World Bank, 2007
Percentage of Conventional Water Resources Available, by Source
World Bank, 2007. Making the Most of Scarcity.

Inter-generational Justice Starts Today
Water as a Human Right
•Debates focused on social aspects related to people’s access to
•good quality water supply and
•sanitation at household level
•Recognized in
•United Nations General Assembly and
•Human Rights Council
declarations of water as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.
•Improving coverage of water and sanitation for poor
•directly reduces financial burden and improves health conditions
•contributes to poverty alleviation
•reduces social inequality and contributes to social justice

MDG 7 Environmental Sustainabilty
Access to Water and Sanitation – Inequalities Between Countries
•Average access to water and sanitation relatively high
•Water services: 83%, and
•Sanitation services: 80%
•Significant variations between Arab countries
•Some LDCs with less than 55% access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities:
•Mauretania,
•Somalia,
•The Sudan, and
•Yemen.

MDG 7 Environmental Sustainabilty
Access to Water and Sanitation – Inequalities Between Urban and Rural
•Direct negative impacts esp. on women and children; increasing gender-related social injustice in rural communities
0
20
40
60
80
100
Regional
Iraq
Morocco
Somalia
Yemen
Water
Urban
Rural
0
20
40
60
80
100
Regional
Djibouti
Mauretania
Morocco
Somalia
The Sudan
Yemen
Sanitation
Urban
Rural

Social Justice Today Impacts on Inter-generational Justice
Social justice in the water sector today is linked to inter- generational justice:
•Challenges that exist today are impacting on development opportunities of communities tomorrow
•If not addressed today, development gap may develop further in the future
•Esp. relevant for those living today in marginalized communities with access limitations or restrictions to water and sanitation

Inter-generational Justice: General Aspects
Challenge to find adequate governance and utilization mechanisms for water resources that either
•Receive no contemporary recharge (i.e. replenishment, so-called “non-renewable aquifers”), or
•Are abstracted at a rate substantially higher than the natural replenishment (e.g. overdraft of renewable aquifers)
State required as regulator and guarantor of justice, i.e. fair distribution between citizens today and future generations:
•“Contrat de nappe“, groundwater contracts between users of common pool resource, Morocco
•Changes in food security / wheat production policies and incentives, Saudi Arabia

Non-renewable Groundwater
Agricultural Water Use e.g. Wadi Al-Sirhan, Saudi Arabia
1991
2000
2012

Accumulated Groundwater Abstractions 1975 - 2004 per Region for Saudi Arabia
WaterWatch, 2006.

Wheat Production, Consumption, and Trade, 1983-2019, Saudi Arabia
GeoEconomica, 2011. Saudi Arabia’s Food Diplomacy: Searching for Fertile Ground.

Petroleum, Natural Gas, Mining
Saving and Investing Natural Resource Rents
•Saving and investing natural resource rents can substantially increase wealth of resource-rich economies
•Economic profits generated from natural resources can become important financial resources for sustainable socio-economic development
•Mining sector - although physically unsustainable:
•Sustain economic activities beyond its limited lifetime,
•Transforming wealth generated from resource units into sustainable forms of economic capital and activities, including manufacturing, agriculture and services

Non-Renewable (Ground-)Water Reserves
Basic Challenges for Sustainable Management
After: Foster, S. et al., 2003. Utilization of Non-Renewable Groundwater. GW-Mate.
we are here, but where are we going next?

Basic Principles for Sustainable Management
•Clear improvement of human well-being and livelihood
•An “exit strategy” as the aquifer is depleted
•Incorporation of inter-generational equity into its development
•Balance between short-term benefits and long-term costs
After: Foster, S. et al., 2003. Utilization of Non-Renewable Groundwater. GW-Mate.

ESCWA-BGR Inventory of Shared Water Resources in Western Asia
- Advertising Break -
www.waterinventory.org
INVENTORY OF SHARED WATER RESOURCES IN WESTERN ASIA

Shared Groundwater - Transboundary Aquifers
Saq Ram Aquifer System (West) – ‘Disi‘Aquifer
www.waterinventory.org

Similar Approaches Possible for Water?
•Non-renewable water reserves face often at least two main differences to other natural resources:
•Much less valued, and
•Diffused, i.e. distributed among large number of beneficiaries
•If not physically preserved, rights of future generations to access and utilize same reserves are literally being violated by current use patterns - wasteful or not
•Depletion of (water) reserves means opportunities are foregone: Opportunity costs arising – costs that are required to provide an alternative (water source) for uses of future generations

Similar Approaches Possible for Water?
•Ideally benefits from non-renewable water reserves are “invested” into “products” that eventually pay out, i.e. pay back for future generations
•Such “products” could be linked to
•High-tech industries,
•Education,
•Pension schemes, etc.
•Managing non-renewable natural resources in a manner that guarantees benefits for future generations means:
•Limiting extraction so as to maintain some reserves for future use, or
•Converting resources into wealth to be invested in long-term and more sustainable economic activities, including industry

Non-Renewable Reserves – Groundwater, Natural Gas, Petroleum
Sovereign Wealth Funds – a Solution ?
•Revenues from petroleum and natural gas incorporated in Sovereign Wealth Funds; handling national investments into future development options and wealth protection schemes
•Revenues from subsidized abstraction of non-renewable groundwater reserves rarely included in Sovereign Wealth Funds; contribute primarily to personal wealth of few elites

SWFs
Assessing the Governance and Transparency Standards
GeoEconomica, 2013. Assessing the Governance and Transparency Standards of Sovereign Wealth Funds: Santiago Compliance Index.

SWFs
Selected Arab Sovereign Wealth Funds
www.swfinstitute.org/fund-rankings , accessed Jul 2014.

Debt-Increasing Investments in Large Scale Infrastructure
Other Challenges for Inter-generational Justice
•Investments into large scale water infrastructure: Storage, production (desalination) or transfer
•Not (re-)financed through direct state budget investments,
•Countries without strong economic or resource base and little financial strength,
•Accumulation of long term debt,
•Future generations may carry burden of paying off debt accumulated by their ancestors
•Substantial debt-increasing water infrastructure still rare
•Different from other sectors, i.e. nuclear energy or other high cost - high tech industries

UN ESCWA 28th Ministerial Session, 15-19 Sep 2014
Tunis Declaration on Social Justice in the Arab Region (1/3)
1.We, the representatives of the member States of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, assembled in Tunis at the twenty- eighth ministerial session of the Commission, commit to social justice as a core value of the Arab and Islamic culture and a foundation for secure, cohesive and prosperous societies.
2.We shall strive to achieve equality and equity in our countries, eradicating poverty, securing environmental sustainability and building partnerships for development, as enshrined in international treaties and declarations.
3.We note with extreme concern the daunting challenges that the Arab region is facing in all aspects of human development. We affirm the importance of addressing threats to social cohesion and combating water scarcity, food and water insecurity, environmental pollution, climate change and the increasing debt of poor Arab countries, which further impede efforts towards social justice and sustainable development.
(...)

9.We recall the Commission’s resolution 304 (XXVII) of 10 May 2012 on the role of participation and social justice in achieving sustainable development, in which it encourages member States to intensify their efforts to mainstream social justice into sustainable development strategies and address the concerns of all social groups.
(...)
19.We stress the urgent need for policies to ensure the preservation and management of increasingly scarce natural resources, in a manner that respects the environment and guarantees intergenerational justice.
(...)

21.In this context, We request the Commission’s secretariat:
(a) To incorporate the elements of social justice in its work on the preparation, monitoring and implementation of a post-2015 development agenda and sustainable development goals, and establish clear implementation and monitoring mechanisms to ensure the achievement of national, regional and global development goals, in accordance with country capabilities;
(b) To strengthen the policy capacity of member States in all relevant fields through training, research and normative work, including through the production of reports on justice, poverty, inequality, social protection, social inclusion, women’s empowerment, natural resource management, renewable energy subsidies, access to technology and good governance, as well as trade policies and their role in achieving development;
(…)
22.From Tunis, we reaffirm our commitment to social justice for our peoples as a vision of and path to a bright, dignified and prosperous future.

Water and Inter-generational Justice in the Arab Region
Summary and Recommendations
Inter-generational equity and justice
•Should address
•Preservation of environment for future generations
•Economic and social options for succeeding generations (match or exceed those of their ancestors)
•Need to focus at least on five areas
1.Fair inter-temporal distribution of natural resource wealth,
2.Just taxation and just accumulation of national debt,
3.Physical stocks of capital,
4.Social and education systems, and
5.Improved income brackets and social mobility for future generations.

References
UN ESCWA, 2014. Social Justice in the Policies of Arab States. Discussion Paper. UN ESCWA, 28th Ministerial Session, Tunis, Tunisia, 15-19 Sep 2014. E/ESCWA/28/8.
www.escwa.un.org/about/gov/sessions/editor/Download.asp?table_ name=sess26_documents&field_name=ID&FileID=278
UN ESCWA, 2014. Tunis Declaration on Social Justice in the Arab Region UN ESCWA, 28th Ministerial Session, Tunis, Tunisia, 15-19 Sep 2014.

Living on borrowed time Without a thought for tomorrow
John Lennon, 22 June 1980

R. Klingbeil, M. Al-Hamdi & R. Majdalani, 2014. Water and Inter-generational Justice in the Arab Region.

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R. Klingbeil, M. Al-Hamdi & R. Majdalani, 2014. Water and Inter-generational Justice in the Arab Region.