Challenges for the Conference A World Bank Perspective

1
Challenges for the ConferenceA World Bank
Perspective

• Tony Garvey
• Water Resources Advisor
• South Asia Region, World Bank

2
World Bank International Waters Portfolio (47
Projects)

• Regional Seas (7) Baltic, Caspian, Danube/Black,
  Aral, Mediterranean, Red, Gulf of Aqaba
• Intl River Basins (6) Nile, Niger, Senegal,
  Lesotho, Parana, Mekong
• Lakes (5) Ohrid, Victoria, Malawi, Chad
• Groundwater Basins (1) Guarani
• Nutrient Pollution Reduction (4) Poland, Rumania,
  Georgia, Black Sea Partnership
• Wetland/Biodiversity Restoration and Conservation
  (12)
• Others related to biodiversity and coastal
  marines resources (12)

3
How Do These Projects Fit Into The Banks Program?

• The Banks Program in a Country is driven by two
  things
• The countries development imperitives and
  priorites for external development financing
• The Banks mission and priorities
• Macro economic management
• Poverty Alleviation
• Sustainable Development
• Good Governance and Public Sector Performance
• Enabling market led growth

4
IW Projects Deal with Tranboundary Waters -- What
Are We Talking About?

• A river or lake basin including its coastal and
  possibly marine area with multiple
  political/administrative jurisdictions
• These entities may be constitutional, sovereign
  or statutory -- hence they have legitimate
  interests and responsibilities founded in law
• Problems arise because
• Present or future actions cause externalities in
  other jurisdictions
• The scope of development in one jurisdiction may
  have physical or legal limits that can only be
  removed by another jurisdiction
• There may be major differences in the need for
  water in time and space that create economic and
  social risks including sustainability and
  preemption of future options

5
What Are Some of the Specific Issues?

• Environment -- water quality, ecosytem functions,
  land degradation
• Expansion of water services -- power, flood
  mitigation, water supply for drinking,
  irrigation, industry, navigation
• Financing capital investment
• Lack of sustainability -- groundwater depletion,
  degradation of the hydrologic cycle, erosion and
  sedimentation, pollution
• Gaps in data, information, knowledge -- flood
  forecasting, hydrologic analysis

6
What Have We Been Trying to Do About These
Problems and Issues

• Create international institutional frameworks and
  mechanisms for cooperation
• Expand the knowledge and information base --
  monitoring, data bases, models, research and
  studies
• Create planning frameworks -- TDAs and SAPs that
  articulate issues and options, and suggest
  priorities

7

• Can This Approach Work?
• Is It Working?
• Is It Just Too Early Too Tell?
• Are There Important Constraints That We are
  Ignoring?
• What Are The Implications for GEF?

8
External Barriers to Cooperation

• The basic approach is appealing -- establish an
  international framework to address a
  transboundary, international problem -- but can
  it be successful if
• There is asymmetry in knowledge, capacity,
  economic wealth, poverty
• Riparians lack experience with integrated
  planning and water management
• Short-term economic and social development
  priorities and interests differ among riparians
• There are significant differences in access to
  capital and fiscal space

9
Internal Barriers to Cooperation

• Lack of an adequate knowledge base
• Poor governance in the water sector
• Lack of participation of stakeholders
• The lack of fiscal space to build capacity and
  make institutional changes especially in new
  areas like environmental management
• Short-term economic and fiscal returns outweighs
  long-term investment in institutions and reform
• The difficulty in making the transition from
  supply side management to integrated water
  management
• Few examples of successful national or
  international river or lake basin management

10
Constraints GEF May Be Ignoring

• Lack of country commitment
• Wide gulf between focal points/ line ministries/
  departments and policy makers -- wants vs means
• Policy makers commitments can be measured by how
  they allocate resources -- low budgets reflect
  low priority
• Policy makers do not have the fiscal space or
  options to finance the required capacity --
  nothing of real value is really free
• GEFs high transaction costs for the country and
  the Bank are a major disincentives and hinders
  ownership and commitment -- nothing of real value
  should necessarily be easy, but nothing should be
  this hard

11
RETHINKING THE GEF MODEL

• The linkage between achieving national
  sustainable development and capturing global
  benefits -- local benefits vs global benefits
  how can you capture global benefits at the margin
  if local benefits arent achieved or sustainable?
• Coherence of GEF Objectives and National
  Priorities?
• Patience vs. Immediate returns and results?
  Seeing a new reality -- Outcomes versus outputs
  -- a short intervention to buy down a barrier
  does not look realistic if a country cannot
  follow through
• Working both sides of the street -- building
  local capacity to participate in basin or
  international frameworks for cooperation
• BAUGEFdisappointment and disaster?

12

• Can This Approach Work?
• Is It Working?
• Is It Just Too Early Too Tell?
• Are There Important Constraints That We are
  Ignoring?
• What Are The Implications for GEF?