YouSaid · the spoken record

Andersen

lines on the record

17

first

2021-06-03

most recent

2021-07-08

sittings or episodes

2

sources

un-security-council

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1. “In order to reach an optimal agreement, trust, transparency and open engagement will be key. As we have heard, the United Nations remains ready to support Egypt, Ethiopia and the Sudan, as well as the African Union, in their efforts to achieve an agreement on the GERD that is beneficial to all. Coordination around hydro-infrastructure in that basin is critically important. When done right and with strong political leadership by the riparian nations, it can provide a basis for deeper, mutually beneficial regional cooperation around shared natural resources, which would enhance sustainable development and peace.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

2. “Cooperation among the riparian States regarding that critical natural resource has never been more important. As the Governments of Egypt, Ethiopia and the Sudan have all recognized, the countries are experiencing rising demand on the water resource, be it in terms of agriculture or energy demands. That is due to a combination of factors, including population growth, urbanization and industrialization. Effective, cooperative water management also becomes all the more important in the context of climate change. Indeed, climate models indicate that the flow of the Nile will exhibit increasing variability during the period of modelling up to 2040, leading to more floods and more intense droughts. It is therefore imperative that the parties work together to manage those interconnected challenges.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

3. “While progress has been made in many areas of the negotiations, consensus has not been reached regarding some critical aspects, including arrangements for the management of protracted drought; development upstream and downstream of the GERD; and a dispute-resolution mechanism. Some differences also remain regarding the scope and nature of the proposed agreement. At this stage and with other sources of regional tension increasing, we must recognize that overcoming the remaining differences among the parties will require careful, meticulous work, supported by the relevant technical and legal experts and with a determination by the three States to arrive at a cooperative solution in pursuit of sustainable development for all in the spirit of one river, one people and one vision. An agreement on the GERD can and indeed must be reached.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

4. “Indeed, as we heard from my colleague, in 2015 they signed an agreement on the declaration of principles in which they committed to some core principles, including cooperation, equitable and reasonable utilization, preventing the cause of significant harm and the peaceful settlement of disputes. That declaration of principles was the outcome of a series of cooperative transboundary efforts undertaken during the previous years. As we have heard, the parties have persisted with those efforts to enhance cooperation, while the African Union (AU) has played a critical role during recent years in taking negotiations forward. The three parties have recognized the tireless efforts made by the AU Chairpersons to facilitate negotiations to reach an agreement. Of course, we also applaud those sustained efforts.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

5. “In the coming years, two of the world’s largest dams — the High Aswan Dam and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam — will substantially control and regulate the flow of the River Nile. That infrastructure has important implications both for human development and the environment. As mentioned, careful and cooperative basin-wide management can maximize the opportunities and positive effects of such major infrastructure and help to minimize any negative consequences. The Governments of Egypt, Ethiopia and the Sudan have made sustained efforts to enhance their cooperation relating to their transboundary water resources over the years.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

6. “Also of importance in the Sudan is the Roseires Dam on the Blue Nile, which is situated approximately 100 kilometres downstream of the GERD, with a total volume of 5.9 billion cubic metres. Egypt’s most significant infrastructure is in upper Egypt, namely the High Aswan Dam. Completed in 1970, it can store 162 billion cubic metres and generate up to 2,100 megawatts. When finished, the GERD will store 74 billion cubic metres of water and generate up to 5,150 megawatts. Any large dam impacts and alters a river’s flow. Where water is scarce and drought is frequent, as is the case in the Blue Nile basin, cooperation on a shared river is the only long-term sustainable option.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

7. “The 2021 rainy season is beginning now, and Ethiopia has announced that additional water has begun to accumulate in the reservoir. During the past century, the Nile riparian countries have developed infrastructure to regulate the river flow, store water, reduce flooding, supply agriculture and generate hydropower. While there are a number of dams in the Nile Basin, including smaller dams on the Blue Nile, I will here mention only the larger hydraulic infrastructure located in the Nile Basin in the three countries. In the Sudan, the largest infrastructure is the Merowe Dam, which can store 12.4 billion cubic metres of water and generate up to 1,250 megawatts.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

8. “The Blue Nile merges with the White Nile at Khartoum, from where the river flows downstream through the Sudan and into Egypt. The Nile has delivered fresh water, fed agriculture and supported livelihoods in those countries for thousands of years. Since 2011, Ethiopia has been constructing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile. The GERD is a major hydropower project located in Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region. Through the generation of hydroelectricity, the GERD will enhance Ethiopia’s energy sources, allowing it to increase electrification, accelerate industrialization and export surplus electricity to the region. Construction of the dam is now nearing completion. During 2020 the reservoir began to fill for the first time, and approximately 4.9 billion cubic metres of water were impounded.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

9. “Ms. Andersen: While shared watercourses have been the cause of dispute, they can also be the foundation for cooperation. Indeed, well-planned hydraulic infrastructure on a shared river course can be a source of enhanced collaboration and need not be a zero-sum game. With integrated planning, damaging seasonal inundations can be prevented; energy can be traded; water storage can be optimized; and benefits can materialize both in terms of development and in terms of water optimization. The Blue Nile constitutes a critical water resource for the peoples of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Republic of the Sudan. The headwaters of the Blue Nile are in the highlands of Ethiopia, where the highly seasonal rains produce 69 per cent of the annual river flow just between July and September.”

   2021-07-08 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8816 (2021) · source

10. “Making an assessment of the FSO SAFER is critical to giving us an understanding of the risks and to ensure that we can identify the appropriate next steps to reduce such risks. In tandem with such prevention efforts, we must continue to exert all efforts and work together to plan for an effective response should an oil spill occur.”

    2021-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8786 (2021) · source

11. “We recognize that despite all the efforts being undertaken by United Nations agencies and partners, the risk remains, and the situation will deteriorate as delays mount. Even if the response activities were to be initiated immediately after an oil spill, it would take years for the ecosystems and economies to recover. With respect to contingency planning and despite the steps already taken and that I have described, much more needs to be done in terms of preparedness and such planning. We are concerned, for example, about limited equipment availability, potential insurance issues and other challenges that will need solutions. In closing, almost a year has passed since we came together to discuss the growing risk of the FSO SAFER oil tanker. I again urge international partners to intensify efforts to address that situation.”

    2021-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8786 (2021) · source

12. “There is an ongoing review of the national contingency plan, with support from PERSGA, UNEP and the IMO. The IMO has recently contracted a company to update scenarios in the event of an oil spill from FSO SAFER. Those efforts have been accompanied by a series of capacity-building workshops on response at the regional and national levels, convened by PERSGA, the IMO and UNEP. The areas covered have been the development of regional procedures to implement the regional contingency plan and facilitate response efforts; national training of the Environment Protection Authority in Yemen on the use of oil-spill response equipment and dispersants; and regional virtual simulation and desktop exercises to test the regional spill contingency plan.”

    2021-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8786 (2021) · source

13. “The Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA), with support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), has developed the regional contingency plan, with the participation of PERSGA’s member States. Together we have established a coordination committee to coordinate regional and international assistance in the event of a significant oil spill from FSO SAFER. The committee aims to support affected countries in mitigating damage caused by a spill. The committee has prepared standard operating procedures in case of a spill, clarified the mandates of the committee members and described critical functions in the event of a request for assistance. The Government of Yemen has also established a national emergency committee on the FSO SAFER.”

    2021-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8786 (2021) · source

14. “About 1 million internally displaced people live in areas in Yemen that could be covered by the smoke plume. Vulnerable populations — especially those with heart and lung conditions — could experience severe health impacts. Although the west coast of Yemen would be the most severely affected, an oil spill could also negatively impact neighbouring Red Sea countries and shipping along one of the busiest commercial routes in the world. The United Nations system is working to support readiness, contingency and response planning in case of an oil spill. We have some progress, and that is on track, especially in setting up coordination mechanisms, which I would like to outline for the Council.”

    2021-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8786 (2021) · source

15. “Fifty per cent of fisheries could be blocked, with an estimated economic cost of around $350 million over five years. The livelihoods of more than 31,500 fishermen would be at risk, and 235,000 workers in the fishing industry could lose their jobs. The Red Sea area is one of the planet’s most important repositories of biodiversity. It hosts internationally important marine mammals, sea turtles, sea birds and many other species. Coastal marine environments, and particularly mangroves, represent 86 per cent of the mangrove cover in the Republic of Yemen, with large extensions of seagrass meadows and coral reefs. In the event of a fire or explosion, around 4.8 million people in Yemen and 350,000 people in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could be exposed to harmful levels of pollution within 24 to 36 hours.”

    2021-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8786 (2021) · source

16. “As I reported last year, the two possible scenarios of a potential spill or explosion would directly affect millions of people, in a country that is already enduring the world’s largest humanitarian emergency. The coronavirus disease pandemic has complicated efforts to address the emergency. In the event of a spill, entire ecosystems could be damaged and it would take decades to clean up spilled oil. Economic, social and health impacts would also be dire. It is estimated that up to 670,000 people’s livelihoods could be impacted by a spill and resulting damage to fisheries, marine resources and coastal industries, factory and port closures. The forced closure of the Al-Hudaydah and Saleef ports could limit fuel and food imports for two to three weeks.”

    2021-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8786 (2021) · source

17. “Ms. Andersen: The risk of a massive oil leakage from the FSO SAFER, a floating single-hull storage and offloading unit, is growing every day. Unfortunately, no significant changes have been reported since my briefing last year (see S/2020/721). Risks to the environment and the livelihoods of people remain. An agreement reached with Ansar Allah in November 2020 on the scope of the work for the assessment of the vessel sent positive signals at that time. However, political and logistical obstacles have impeded the implementation of the agreement, and the planned mission has been unable to deploy. As a result, we still do not know the exact condition of the vessel or what the best solution would be to deal with 1.1 million barrels of oil in an ageing tanker located in an environmentally sensitive area of the Red Sea.”

    2021-06-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8786 (2021) · source