PART
Technological innovation
Chapter 4
1
Policies, laws and finance Authors: Gunilla Björklund, Stefano Burchi, Richard Connor, William Cosgrove, Sarah Hendry, Patrick Moriarty, Walter Rast, Léna Salamé and James Winpenny Contributors: Jack Moss, Monica Scatasta, Jon Martin Trondalen and World Water Assessment Programme Expert Group on Legal Issues Coordinator: Tim Kasten (UNEP) Facilitator: Richard Connor
Key messages Effective policy and legal frameworks are necessary to develop, carry out and enforce the rules and regulations that govern water use and protect the resource. Water policy operates within a context of local, national, regional and global policy and legal frameworks that must all support sound water management goals. Legitimate, transparent and participatory processes can effectively mobilize input for designing and implementing water resources policy and create a strong deterrent to corruption. Although water is often described as a ‘gift of nature’, harnessing and managing it for the wide variety of human and ecological needs entail financial costs. While there may appear to be many financing options for water resources development, governments still have only three basic means of financing them: tariffs, taxes and transfers through external aid and philanthropy. Policy-makers need to make political decisions on socially and environmentally acceptable trade-offs among different objectives and on who bears the costs of such compromise.
Policies and laws Authors: Gunilla Björklund, William Cosgrove, Patrick Moriarty, Walter Rast and Léna Salamé Contributors: Richard Connor, Jon Martin Trondalen and World Water Assessment Programme Expert Group on Legal Issues Effective policy and legal frameworks are necessary to develop, implement and enforce rules and regulations for controlling water uses. Although policy and law go hand in hand, they are fundamentally different. Policy serves mainly as a guide for decision-makers. Law provides a set of enforceable rules. Water in a changing world
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Water policy, developed at international and national levels, can lead to the establishment of international, national and local laws. Effective implementation and enforcement require an adequate institutional and governance framework – one that is legitimate, transparent and participatory and that has proper safeguards against corruption. The legal system within which water law operates can be a strong instrument of change – or a severe impediment to progress. Water law sets the framework for stakeholders’ use of water resources and responds to pressures from demographic, economic and social drivers. Policy‑makers 49
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