Water Association Finland organised the World Water Day Seminar on Friday 22 March 2024, in cooperation with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the project Water Cooperation and Peace – Finnish Water Way coordinated by the Finnish Environment Institute. The event was organised in a hybrid format, onsite at Tieteiden talo in Helsinki and via livestream. Altogether, the event attracted almost 190 participants.
The first part of the seminar was held in Finnish and was opened by Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen. In her speech, the Foreign Minister emphasised that water is directly linked with foreign and security policy, but reminded that water should not only be seen as a cause of conflict, but also as an enabler of cooperation.
Annina Takala, Chair of the Water Association Finland, opened the event on behalf of the Association. She stated that we in Finland no longer have the luxury of being able to approach water and peace with only theoretical interest, but water and peace is a common issue for all of us. Takala expressed her happiness about the seminar’s high-level program and thanked the collaborators for making this possible.
Leading researcher Suvi Sojamo from the Finnish Environment Institute talked about the linkages between water and peace, especially from the perspective of research. According to Sojamo, the number of conflicts related to water has increased in recent years, but water is usually only one of the many factors leading to conflicts. Sojamo also raised different perspectives on how water can be used to promote long-term peace.
Water has also been involved in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Jussi Soini, Counsellor for Foreign Affairs, Ukraine Team leader, gave an overview of the situation in Ukraine in his presentation and told about the support provided by Finland. Ukraine is Finland’s largest development cooperation and humanitarian aid partner country, and Finland also participates in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Dam safety expert Eija Isomäki from the ELY Centre for Kainuu told about the explosion of the Kahovka dam in Ukraine in June 2023 and its consequences. The destruction of the dam had a wide impact on the area’s water supply, the availability of irrigation water and, for example, the supply of cooling water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The explosion affected not only the quantity of water, but also the quality of the water, because as a result of the explosion, sediments, oils and other impurities spread in the water.
Project coordinator Elina Häkkinen from the Finnish Environment Institute told about the water diplomacy project Water Cooperation and Peace – Finnish Water Way. Häkkinen described, among other things, the conflict analysis tool developed in the project, which can be used as part of proactive peace mediation. The project also promotes international cooperation in water diplomacy, for example by promoting the implementation of transboundary water agreements. The project has also strengthened Finnish water diplomacy capacities through supporting trainings and theses on the topic.
After the coffee break, the English part of the seminar was opened by Margot Wallström, the former foreign minister of Sweden and former EU commissioner. Currently, she leads the international high-level working group that recently published a report on the effects of the environmental damage caused by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Wallström reminded that peace must also mean peace with nature. The pollution of water bodies and the destruction of water infrastructure affect our chances of survival.
The programme also included video greetings from Tanja Miškova, Ambassador-at-Large for Water Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia, and Jon Lane, Chairman of the Scientific Programme Committee of the World Water Week. This year, Finland will have a prominent role in the Stockholm World Water Week programme (read more).
Marko Keskinen, Associate Professor on Water Resources Management and Policy at Aalto University, spoke about the importance of water diplomacy from both the perspective of water and diplomacy. He underlined the importance especially in the current situation, where the geopolitical landscape is changing and the planetary boundaries are exceeded. See Marko Keskinen’s presentation slides (pdf).
Erik Aarnos, Associate Environmental Affairs Officer, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), explained how transboundary water agreements create a framework for regional transboundary water cooperation and support peace building and conflict prevention. See Erik Aarnos’ presentation slides (pdf).
The seminar programme ended with a hybrid panel discussion led by Antti Rautavaara, Special Envoy for Water (Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland). Anna Huovila, Deputy Director (Peace Mediation Centre, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland), and Emma Hakala, Leading Researcher (Finnish Institute of International Affairs), participated in the panel onsite whereas the online panellists were Laura Turley, Senior Science-Policy Interface Manager (Geneva Water Hub), and Mohamed C.B.C. Diatta, Coordinator of the Unit for the Follow-up, Promotion and Popularisation of the Recommendations of the 9th World Water Forum (Senegal).
The focus of the panel discussion was on the preventive perspectives on water and peace. Among the panellists, Huovila spoke about the inclusive approach to mediation and the role of different actors in society, including civil society, in peace processes. Hakala highlighted the importance of conflict analysis for water diplomacy and, more broadly, preventive aspects of environmental mediation. Diatta shared Senegal’s strong experience in promoting water diplomacy internationally and shared best practices in Senegal’s cross-border water cooperation. Turley highlighted the importance of institutions and infrastructure for peace and the role of international agreements, especially from a preventive perspective.
Thank you again for the active audience and for the excellent speakers!
In addition, our sincerest thank you for Maa- ja vesitekniikan tuki ry for the financial support that made the event possible.
Further reading from the presentations about the theme of water and peace:
- Water Cooperation and Peace – Finnish Water Way (syke.fi)
- Water, Peace and Security (waterpeacesecurity.org)
- Homepage – The Water Diplomacy Handbook
- World Water Week – an annual event on global water issues hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute
- Rapid Environmental Assessment of Kakhovka Dam Breach Ukraine, 2023 https://www.unep.org/resources/report/rapid-environmental-assessment-kakhovka-dam-breach-ukraine-2023
- Key insights into the Nova Kahovka dam destruction: an initial analysis https://waterpeacesecurity.org/info/blog-08-06-2023-key-insights-into-the-nova-kakhovka-dam-destruction-an-initial-analysis
- Global Water Security 2023 Assessment – UNU Collections
- Expert Opinion to UN 2023 Water Conference Interactive Dialogues September 2022.pdf – Google Drive
- Pacific Institute Water Conflict Chronology (worldwater.org)
- A Path Forward for Women, Water, Peace, and Security | SIWI – Leading expert in water governance
- The Geneva List of Principles on the Protection of Water Infrastructure | Geneva Water Hub
- Water Under Fire Volume3.pdf (unicef.org)
- Keskinen, M., Salminen, E. and Haapala, J. 2021. Water diplomacy paths – An approach to recognise water diplomacy actions in shared waters. Journal of Hydrology (602). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169421007873?via%3Dihub
- Keskinen, M.; Häkkinen, E.; Haapala, J. and Sharipova, B. 2023. Trust in transboundary waters: Identifying trust-building in water diplomacy literature. Water Alternatives 16(3): 949-977. https://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol16/v16issue3/727-a16-3-11/ac
- Porkka, M., Virkki, V., Wang-Erlandsson, L. et al. Notable shifts beyond pre-industrial streamflow and soil moisture conditions transgress the planetary boundary for freshwater change. Nat Water 2, 262–273 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-024-00208-7
- Sehring, J., Schmeier, S., Horst, R. t., Offutt, A., & Sharipova, B. (2022). Diving into Water Diplomacy – Exploring the Emergence of a Concept. Diplomatica, 4(2), 200-221. https://doi.org/10.1163/25891774-bja10082
