BLOG - Transnational Water Security in Asia: A Leadership Role for Rising Powers?

Water security is one of the most intractable challenges confronting Asias future. It is widely recognised that climate change combined with other stress factors relating to population growth, urbanisation, and unsustainable development are leading to negative impacts on the availability and quality of the regions water resources. Equally worrying are the lack of formal multilateral mechanisms to encourage water sharing on a region-wide basis. Under these conditions, the potential exists for water conflicts to escalate, and even the spectre of water wars between states seems possible. But a worst-case scenario is by no means inevitable. A critical question is whether Asias emerging powers China and India will take a leadership role in building cooperation.