YouSaid · the spoken record

Waslekar

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14
first
2016-11-22
most recent
2016-11-22
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1
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un-security-council

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  1. “We would look at the next generation and, once we start looking at the future in a creative way, I am sure that the talent, political will and capacity worldwide will help find solutions to our problems. The Security Council and your presidency, Mr. President, can provide some guidance and inspiration.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  2. “In order to do that, we have to look ahead. We have to be unconventional. We have to look at things we have not thought of. I would urge the Council to consider all options to help shape our future. It is a philosophical matter of how we look at time. We often think that first there is a past, then there is a present and then there is a future. In reality, first there is a future. What today is the future will become the present tomorrow, and what is present today will become past tomorrow. In truth, first there is a future, then there is a present and then there is a past. If we looked at the flow of time in that direction, we would take it upon ourselves to share the future and, instead of looking at the past, we would look at the future. We would look at prevention.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  3. “The world should consider creating a blue fund exclusively to take care of interests, insurance and other related costs of collaborative water infrastructure - not within countries but rather infrastructure through cooperation between the countries. If we can do that, and if we allocate only $1 billion annually - which can be easily carved out from the Green Climate Fund's $100 billion annual budget i then that $1 billion annual investment can create $30 billion of collaborative infrastructure worldwide. The mathematics of that idea can be explained later. The question, therefore, is that we have to look at water as an instrument of cooperation. We have to bear in mind that it is a potential source of crisis, but we have to find a way to convert it from potential source of crisis to potential instrument of cooperation.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  4. “The Department of Political Affairs will be a better judge as to how that could be done. Finally, there is also a role for the international community - beyond and inspired by the Security Council - to incentivize water cooperation. We must not only look at the protection of water infrastructure, but also at how we can bolster preventive diplomacy and take preventive measures to promote water cooperation. In that regard, the role of financial incentives is very important. The Secretary-General and the President of the World Bank launched a very important panel on water as a sustainable development goal. My friend Danilo Turk is sharing a panel on water and peace and security. The objectives of those two panels can be linked through a very innovative measure.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  5. “If we can invest human, intellectual and political capital to find water on another planet, why can we not find some way and some means to negotiate a ceasefire just for a few days from time to time to protect the water resources and water installations on this planet? I strongly urge the members of the Security Council to consider that proposal as well. It is also important to explore how we can better protect water resources. The Secretary-General and Ms. Beerli mentioned how water resources are being increasingly targeted. The Department of Political Affairs has a Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force. Perhaps the mandate of the Task Force can be specifically expanded or sharpened to include the protection of water resources from terrorist actions.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  6. “I would also like to go further and ask Security Council members, in particular the permanent members, once in a while to consider negotiating a ceasefire in protracted conflicts in order to repair and restore water systems. Such a ceasefire could last a week, or at least three or four days. Let me explain my logic for that request. Many members of the United Nations system, particularly some of the permanent members of the Security Council, are investing huge resources and wasting their talent and scientific minds to find water on Mars, the moon of Jupiter or some other part of the universe so that human civilization can continue to exist.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  7. “They know the rules and procedures of the Security Council, whereas I am an outsider. I was touched by the briefing by Ms. Christine Beerli of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work that ICRC staff are doing in some conflict zones is amazing and highly commendable, but we need to support them and we need to support similar organizations. How can we do that? Earlier this year, the Security Council adopted resolution 2286 (2016), on protecting medical installations and personnel. Would the Security Council consider adopting a follow-up draft resolution inspired by resolution 2286 (2016), in the same spirit, to protect water installations and the personnel guarding them? I urge the Council to consider that proposal.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  8. “Therefore, water is a subject that is very much owned by the Security Council. I would urge the members ofthe Security Council to consider something unconventional and unprecedented. Considering that the impact of the management of water is not always confined to one region - there is always a risk that it can have implications across the world - and considering that there is a positive relationship between water cooperation and comprehensive peace and security and considering that water can make a useful contribution Sustainable Development Goal 16, I urge the members ofthe Security Council to apply their minds to see ifthey can come up with an unconventional, unprecedented way to proclaim water as a strategic asset of humanity. The members of the Council are the best judges as to how the Council might best achieve that.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  9. “However, when it comes to introducing large infrastructure projects and addressing the question of large public goods and priorities between water and other public goods, such as large investments and security, then the involvement of managers of political systems and the managers of security establishments is very necessary. At the routine level, water managers can manage water relations. At a more complex level, the involvement of national, regional and global security establishments and the mainstream political leaders is absolutely necessary. Therefore, water is not just a subject relevant to Sustainable Development Goal 6. It can also be positively used as a tool to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 16, which is geared towards peaceful and inclusive coexistence.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  10. “Regarding the second question, the Strategic Foresight Group - with which I have the privilege of being associated - has undertaken a number of studies. By assessing situations in 148 countries that share river basins - more than 220 shared river basins total - we have found that any two countries that are engaged in active water cooperation with political support do not go to war for any reason, whether related to water or not. Thus, there is a direct correlation between water cooperation and reduced risk of war, which we can see through the water cooperation quotient. Therefore, it is in the interest of the international community to further examine and explore that relationship. We have also found that there is a continuum of the management of water relations. Water managers can manage day-to-day relations in river basins.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  11. “If we look ahead and take into account the rate at which humankind is depleting water resources, there is a risk that the innate amount of fresh water could decrease by 25 to 30 per cent in the next 20 years. That could lead to a decline in the production of whole grains. That means that by 2030 or 2035, some countries that are self-sufficient today would have to enter the international whole grains market as importers. If there were an additional demand of 100 to 200 million tons of whole grains, then we would certainly find that the price of whole grains would skyrocket across the world. Even though those importing countries would be only in some parts of the world, their impact would be felt by poor people across the world. Therefore, we must recognize the global nature of the relationship between water and peace and security.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  12. “In the past six years, we have seen that when the mismanagement of water is combined with the mismanagement of climate change and the mismanagement of politics, which has happened in some parts of the world, it has led to the displacement of a large number of people. Refugees have fled from one part of the world to another, which has had severe political consequences in different parts of the world. Whatever we do regarding the management of water in combination with the management of the social contract and political relationships in any one region can have implications on other regions of the world. That is what we have seen, particularly in the past three years.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  13. “One of the greatest challenges of our time is how to transform water from a potential source of crisis into a potential instrument of cooperation. If the political and intellectual capital of the world can be applied to that question, then I am sure that we will able to find an answer. What are we talking about? Currently there about 2 billion people living in shared river basins in the developing world, so the future of 2 billion people is what this meeting hopes to address. Often we feel that water is a local or provisional issue that can be managed or addressed through good governance at the local level or good transboundary cooperation at the regional level. We are increasingly finding out that water is also a global security issue.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source

  14. “Mr. Waslekar: I want to compliment the Government of Senegal and Mr. Mankeur Ndiaye for convening this debate on water and peace and security, which I understand to be happening for the first time in the history of the Security Council. I would like to take the opportunity to address three questions. First, why should the Security Council address the linkage between water and peace and security? Secondly, what can the Security Council do to create a positive relationship between water and peace? Thirdly, what can the United Nations system and the international community do? Regarding the first question, the Secretary-General pointed out in his briefing how water can be a source of crisis. He also pointed out how water can be a source of cooperation.”

    2016-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7818 (2016) · source