COOPERATIVE WATER GOVERNANCE FOR CLIMATE RESILIENCE: ARE INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA FIT FOR PURPOSE?

The document argues that current transboundary water governance in Southern Africa is inadequate due to a prioritisation of national sovereignty over regional integration. It highlights how climate change acts as a 'stress multiplier', exacerbating water scarcity and threatening energy and food security, as seen in the 2015/16 hydropower crises in Zambia and Zimbabwe. The author contends that while bilateral agreements (like the Zambezi River Act) provide some success in benefit-sharing, broader basin-level cooperation is hindered by weak mandates for river basin organisations (RBOs) and a lack of quantified economic co-benefits. The paper advocates for a 'positive-sum' approach to water management, integrating climate risks into investment planning to unlock international climate finance and prevent cross-border disputes.

• Water serves as a 'stress multiplier' in Africa, where the combined effects of climate change and development decisions manifest in stressed water resources, further undermined by poor governance.
• Inadequate transboundary water governance contributed to severe electricity rationing in Zambia and Zimbabwe during 2015/16, as low water levels in Lake Kariba reduced hydropower generation.
• Regional integration in Southern Africa is low, with riparian countries often prioritising short-term national sovereign interests over cooperative management, which places transboundary water management at risk.
• While bilateral agreements like the Zambezi River Act and the Treaty on the Lesotho Highlands successfully manage specific economic benefits, comprehensive basin-level benefit-sharing mechanisms are largely absent in Southern Africa.
• The lack of quantified and transparent data on basin-wide shared costs and benefits is a threat that may curtail cooperation and increase the likelihood of water disputes.
• Climate change is expected to reduce power generation capacity by 8% to 15% for most existing hydropower plants in Southern Africa, except for Boroma and Kafue Gorge Upper.
• Access to international climate finance for transboundary water initiatives is hindered by the lack of 'climate finance readiness' and the onerous governance requirements of funds like the Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund.
• A territorial dispute between Malawi and Tanzania over Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) has been intensified by the potential for oil and gas reserves, preventing Malawi from ratifying the ZAMCOM agreement.
• The Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) approach has seen limited implementation in SADC countries due to capacity constraints and a failure to translate principles into concrete transboundary cost-sharing mechanisms.

APA

Petrie, B. (2017). COOPERATIVE WATER GOVERNANCE FOR CLIMATE RESILIENCE: ARE INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA FIT FOR PURPOSE? South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Occasional-Paper-268.pdf

Chicago

Petrie, Belynda. COOPERATIVE WATER GOVERNANCE FOR CLIMATE RESILIENCE: ARE INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA FIT FOR PURPOSE? South African Institute of International Affairs, 2017. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Occasional-Paper-268.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Petrie |first1=Belynda |title=COOPERATIVE WATER GOVERNANCE FOR CLIMATE RESILIENCE: ARE INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA FIT FOR PURPOSE? |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=July 2017 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Occasional-Paper-268.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{petrie2017cooperative, author = {Petrie, Belynda}, title = {{COOPERATIVE WATER GOVERNANCE FOR CLIMATE RESILIENCE: ARE INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA FIT FOR PURPOSE?}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2017}, month = jul, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Occasional-Paper-268.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }