BAGHDAD (Xinhua) – The Baghdad 3rd International Water Conference called for regional and global cooperation to preserve transboundary waters from pollution and the impact of global warming.
The appeal was made in a final statement issued Sunday, the second day of the water conference, which called on the riparian countries of the Tigris and Euphrates river basins to join the 1992 Helsinki Water Convention and the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention to preserve transboundary waters from pollution to sustain biodiversity in the region.
Helsinki Water Convention calls to prevent and control water pollution across national frontiers, and ensure the reasonable and impartial use of transboundary waters, and the UN Watercourses Convention establishes basic standards and rules for cooperation between watercourse states on the use, management and protection of international watercourses.
Among its 16 points, the statement also called to support Iraq in the field of transboundary water resources sustainability to ensure the ecosystem and preserve biodiversity and urge the riparian countries to conclude bilateral agreements on defining a fair and reasonable share of water resources.
On Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said in his speech at the conference’s opening ceremony that Iraq is suffering from water scarcity due to climate change, stressing that “urgent international intervention is necessary to save the Tigris and Euphrates rivers” to help Iraq in ensuring its water security and the future of its generations.