CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2015
| Author | Koeppel, Sonja Christine |
|---|---|
| Title | Transboundary water management and climate change adaptation: a comparative study of four European river basins |
| Summary | Many of the more than 276 transboundary river basins worldwide are affected by climate change which leads to higher flow variability. They need to be managed in a flexible and adaptive way. This dissertation aimed to identify which factors are conducive to strengthen the adaptive capacity of transboundary water management regimes in Europe. The concept adaptive capacity was operationalized as “Ability to cope with past flow variability without conflicts”. Adaptation activities in four European transboundary water management regimes were compared: the Rhine, Danube, Meuse, and Neman basins, complemented by short consideration of 9 additional basins worldwide. The research question was analysed in a qualitative way, using participatory observation, complemented by semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The analysis identified the following enabling factors for adaptive capacity: 1. Adaptive capacity of transboundary water management regimes can be promoted by flexible legal frameworks, flexible and well-working organizations such as river basin commissions, data and information exchange about climate change impacts, learning capacity and clarification of responsibilities between the national and transboundary levels. Usually, the transboundary level has a role to play in prevention, preparedness and reaction to flow variability, whereas responsibilities for all areas of the disaster risk management cycle and for implementation of measures lies at national level. These levels can motivate each other. 2. Legal frameworks should facilitate the other enabling factors, namely include provisions on data exchange, common monitoring and early-warning, stakeholder engagement, creation of river basin organizations, funding aspects. New legal treaties should be designed flexibly, which can however have transaction costs. 3. Flexibility in the organization responsible for ensuring implementation of the transboundary agreement, such as the river basin commission (RBO), is important for adaptive capacity and can overcome lack of flexibility in the legal framework, at least in water-rich European basins. To increase adaptive capacity flexible RBOs can set up expert groups or develop basin-wide adaptation strategies and plans. Thus, more efforts are needed for establishing and strengthening river basin commissions. 4. River basin organizations need an effective secretariat, a visionary and motivating leader, trust and understanding benefits of cooperation by the riparian countries, wide stakeholder engagement, human and financial resources for climate change adaptation and a mandate to address flow variability. 5. Exchange of data and developing basin-wide models, studies and vulnerability assessments facilitates reaching of common understanding and scientific consensus on climate change impacts, which is a precondition for increasing adaptive capacity. 6. Climate change impacts and the need for adaptation do not necessarily cause conflicts, but provide often even a motivation for cooperation. |
| Supervisor | Tamara Steger |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2015/koeppel_sonja.pdf |
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