WWF's Global Freshwater Programme is working to create political, social, economic, and administrative systems, processes and institutions to develop and manage water resources and the delivery of water services.
Work to improve water governance includes:
- Partnering with international conventions and groups (such as the Ramsar Convention, the UN Watercourses Convention, the UNECE Water Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, UN-Water, and the Global Water Partnership) to promote international processes and mechanisms to advance conservation of freshwater ecosystems
- Working with regional public and private institutions (such as the EU, Asian Development Bank, Mekong River Commission, and African River Basin Commissions) to promote better water and river basin management
- Promoting new national laws and legislation, or revising and supporting enforcement of existing laws, that support better water and river basin management – including environmental water flows, sustainable water allocation, wetlands conservation, climate change adaptation, water footprint, and responsible hydropower
- Promoting and building capacity for institutional arrangements for river basin management, through e.g. river fora, international river basin organizations, international agreements and mechanisms for transboundary river basin management
- Integrating sustainable water allocation, responsible water infrastructures, environmental water flows, protected areas, and climate change adaptation into water resources / wetlands / river basin management plans.
Working group session during a training course on Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) organized the WWF Mediterranean Programme Office, Spain.
Effective water governance works through networks and relationships between government bodies, the private sector, NGOs, community groups and individuals. It will:
- Encourage stakeholders to actively participate in designing, planning, managing and implementing water management activities
- Foster the ability of communities to innovate and adapt to changing circumstances (such as climate change)
- Improve clarity and allocation of stakeholder roles and responsibilities through legislation and policies
- Create greater integration between, and coordination of, water management efforts
- Provide incentives for innovation and improved performance