ABSTRACT
Transboundary water management and cooperation remains a difficult issue within the Middle East, particularly among the riparian states of the Jordan Basin. Environmental changes, inclusive of climate change, profoundly impact the region, thereby affecting water and food security and the desire of riparian states to be self-sufficient. In its Global Risks Report 2018 (WEF), the World Economic Forum identified water crises and the failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation as two of the top-five global risks in terms of impact. The water crisis still remains the most predominant risk in the Middle East as already laid out in their Global Risks Report 2016. Riparian states remain vulnerable to several existing and foreseeable threats including but not limited to forced migration, displacement, human rights violations, high unemployment, and stagnated development. The World Bank indicates that the region’s growth rates may decline by as much as 6% of GDP by 2050 due to water scarcity. When resources are scarce, it is well known that countries are prone to conflict; the riparian states are no different. Whilst there have been persistent small-scale conflicts, glimmers of cooperation can be found in negotiations and agreements made between riparian states , which over time have revealed Israel as the hegemon of the basin , rendering Jordan, Syria and Lebanon limited access to the basin and Palestine no access at all. As water remains a contentious topic, amongst other issues within the ongoing conflicts, the basin itself is highly politicized and securitized; therefore, addressing issues of water allocation and management directly is high politics. In this chapter we hypothesize that by actions towards tackling climate change and reducing vulnerability to environmental change through mitigation and adaptation will help to address the Israel‒Palestine conflict, reduce regional tensions and build habits of cooperation.
