Enhancing Transboundary Water Cooperation Through Economic Valuation Of Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services In Kabul River Basin

The ongoing transboundary water conflicts in the Kabul River Basin (KRB) are narrowly conceptualised in terms of quantitative water distributions leading to win-lose situations, which are exacerbated due to ongoing insurgencies, climate change, growing industrialization and urbanization. The existing transboundary water mechanisms are state-centric, bilateral, exclude other actors, and disregard the broader biodiversity and ecosystem services (BESS) of the river basin for enhancing human well-being. This research explores: can the BESS concept be used to bring together multiple stakeholders across the KRB and transform the water sharing conflicts by enabling a re-definition of the water management problem in the context of green water economy and evidence of shared environmental benefits? The proposed research aims to enhance our understanding to transform distributive win-lose bargaining into integrative win-win bargaining. A better understanding of water-related BESS can change the behaviour of relevant actors while addressing climate change (water scarcity, water recharge and discharge zones), socio-political changes (dispute resolution, human rights to water and sanitation, inter-generational equity) and economic changes (pollution prevention, growing agriculture, industrialisation, demographic shifts and urbanisation).

DR. HAMEED JAMALI
CGP 02-018
Assistant Professor
Institute of Management Sciences (IMSciences), Peshawar
12 months
Rs. 3,600,000/-
Dr. Shakeel Hayat, Dr. Muhammad Rafiq, Mr. Aftab Nazeer