Signal Three fifths of 310 international river basins have no dispute framework

Summary

Eurasia Group reports that nearly two thirds of the world's freshwater flows across national borders. Yet of the 310 international river basins, three fifths have no framework for handling disputes. Major powers including the United States and China have not signed the UN convention on international watercourses adopted in 1997. In contrast to climate or biodiversity, water lacks an annual global conference, binding targets or enforcement. The report argues that this governance vacuum, combined with populist politics, makes compromise harder just when scarcity is rising.