Water Diplomacy for Stability Across the OSCE Region
At the concluding OSCE Economic & Environmental Committee meeting of 2025, the Geneva Water Hub contributed to the discussion on how Water Diplomacy can support peace and security across the climate-water nexus.
Representing the Geneva Water Hub, Erik A. Schnetzler highlighted how water diplomacy can help in building trust, fostering dialogue, and supporting conflict-sensitive cooperation. He was joined by Nadira Mukhamejan (University of Geneva), who presented the new OSCE online course on data and digitalization in the water sector.
Climate pressures are increasing fragility across the OSCE region, amplifying the urgency for coordinated, complementary action. With many actors now engaging on climate-water challenges, clarifying roles, building synergies and avoiding fragmentation become essential to protect stability and reinforce local priorities.
The OSCE is uniquely positioned to strengthen political dialogue, early warning and transboundary cooperation, especially where technical solutions alone are not enough.
Water diplomacy provides practical pathways to:
- build trust through joint fact-finding and data sharing
- maintain dialogue even during crisis situations
- widen negotiation spaces, for instance by considering the water-energy-food nexus
- make use of international law (including environmental law, water law, and human rights law) and relevant conventions to guide cooperation
The GWH expresses its appreciation to Vesa Häkkinen and Melita Zupevc for the invitation to participate in the EEC meeting.
Bakyt Dzhusupov
Antti Rautavaara
Dinara Ziganshina
Hanna Plotnykova
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New resource now available
A few weeks ago, the Geneva Water Hub and partners launched a free OSCE e-learning course: “Data Sharing and Digitalization in the Water Sector”, offering practical tools to strengthen cooperation and transparency across shared water systems.
