Instead of assuming the inevitability of conflict, it is possible to see water scarcity as an opportunity for cooperation, with states and communities realising the mutual benefit available to them through working together rather than competing.

Indeed, FoEME's experience has shown that if trust is built around shared water issues, it can then impact positively on other aspects of human relations, toward working cooperatively for common gain.

Earlier this week, a group of ten of the nation’s top scientists including James Hansen, James McCarthy, and Raymond Pierrehumbert, sent a letter to the State Department calling for “a serious review of the effect of helping open Canada’s tar sands on the planet’s climate.” They are rightly asking that this happen as part of the environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would carry polluting tar sands into the United States from Canada.

Tourists generally don’t devote much thought to water usage. And why should they? After all, crystal swimming pools, delightfully verdant tropical grounds, and long, luxurious showers are essential elements of any successful vacation, as any harried wage-slave will be happy to tell you. But according to British charity Tourism Concern, blissed-out tourists in third world countries should be contemplating how their leisure is affecting others lives.

Climate Change and Water Conference—An ideal opportunity for the international community to exchange ideas and develop a common vision for the future of world climate change and water resources. Until July 11. Ismailia, Egypt.

This report on CPD's conference “Water Diplomacy: A Foreign Policy Imperative” provides brief summaries of each panel discussion with a focus on preliminary observations and recommendations for the conduct of water public diplomacy and policy.

Lost in such big-hearted diplomacy is the fact that India is downriver to China rejects the very concept of water sharing...Instead, the construction of upstream dams on international rivers shows that China is increasingly bent on unilateral actions, impervious to the concerns of downstream nations.