Water is also irreplaceable by other substances. Unlike oil or other strategic resources, it cannot be substituted by anything else. But freshwater is getting scarce. At least 130 million people in 80 countries already suffer from acute water shortage. Their number will rise to one billion by the year 2025.
Water distribution is also very unequal, both within countries and among different states.
There are 214 transboundary river basins where two or more states share the flow of water. This is a potential source of conflict, but it can also become a catalyst for international cooperation. In about two thirds of all basins, there are already cooperative arrangements by riparian states. In future, this cooperation must be extended and improved if conflicts or even wars over water are to be avoided. Prior to the adoption of the Declaration, the conference heard case studies of major international efforts to come to terms with the chances and risks of transboundary water flows.