Nearly half of the world’s freshwater is shared between at least two or more countries. In this Crash Course, we examine why water cooperation between states is increasingly vital to prevent conflict.
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00:00Why is competition for water resources growing? Climate change and increased demand mean water
00:13is becoming scarcer. In the south of Europe, rivers and their tributaries face severe stress.
00:20And in Central and Eastern Europe, more droughts are predicted. Nearly half of the world's
00:25surface waters are shared by at least two countries or more.
00:30Europe has the highest number of communal river basins. That's the river and all the
00:34streams that flow into it. Many EU countries rely heavily on water that originates outside
00:42their borders. The Danube flows through several countries, including Germany, Slovakia, Moldova
00:49and Ukraine. The Danube River Protection Convention is the main framework for the Danube River
00:56Basin. Signed in 1994, it covers conserving and rational use of the water, flood prevention
01:03and pollution. The EU supports the UN's Water Convention and also regulates transboundary
01:11cooperation through laws including the Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive,
01:16all designed to boost water diplomacy and ensure common water is shared fairly.