Averting Water Wars in Asia

Event Type
Water Lecture

Location/Date
Bonn, 25.06.2014

Organiser

Center for Development Research (ZEF), the Hydrological Research Group at the Geography Department (University of Bonn), the Global Water System Project (GWSP), the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development (UNW-DPC), the United Nations University (UNU) and the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE )


The sharpening Asian competition over energy resources, especially in the South and East China Seas, has obscured another danger: water shortages in much of Asia are becoming a threat to rapid economic modernization and peace. Water has emerged as a key security issue that could determine if Asia is headed toward cooperation or competition. Although home to more than half of the human population, Asia has less freshwater per capita than any other continent. The specter of water wars in Asia is being highlighted by climate change and environmental degradation. The Himalayan snow melt that feeds Asia’s great rivers could be accelerated by global warming. While intrastate water-sharing disputes have become rife in several Asian countries, it is the potential interstate conflict over resources of shared rivers and aquifers that should be of greater concern. How can these risks be contained?

Brahma Chellaney is Professor of Strategic Studies at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. He has served as a member of the Policy Advisory Group headed by the Foreign Minister of India. Before that, Brahma Chellaney was an adviser to India’s National Security Council until January 2000, serving as convenor of the External Security Group of the National Security Advisory Board. A specialist on international security and arms control issues, Brahma Chellaney has held appointments at the Harvard University, the Brookings Institution, the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and the Australian National University. He is the author of six books, including “Water: Asia’s New Battleground. In 2014, Brahma Chellaney spends an extended working stay in Berlin as Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow of the Robert Bosch Academy.
After Prof. Chellaney’s presentation, the discussion will be kicked-off by a comment by Ines Dombrowsky of the German Development Institute (DIE).




Hinweis / Please note

Während unserer Veranstaltungen werden z.T. Foto- und/oder Filmaufnahmen gemacht, die für Zwecke der Veranstaltungsberichterstattung und allgemeinen Öffentlichkeitsarbeit in verschiedenen Medien veröffentlicht werden. Sie haben jederzeit das Recht, die Foto- oder Videograf*innen darauf hinzuweisen, dass Sie nicht aufgenommen werden möchten.
 

During our events photos and/or videos may be taken which may be published in various media for the purposes of documentation and PR activities. You have the right at any time to point out to the photographer or videographer that you do not want to be photographed or filmed.

Event information

Date / h
25.06.2014 / 19:00 - 20:30

Location

ZEF (Center for Development)
Walter Flex Straße 3
53113 Bonn