Anthropogenic pressures, climate change, and hydro-politics pose significant risks for sustainable transboundary river basin management. They reviewed 4237 publications using machine learning and conducted a desk review of 325 publications, analyzing 4713 case studies across 286 basins. Our objectives were to: assess major perspectives and key research themes; analyse how they vary based on basin size, location, runoff, water withdrawal, discharge, and consumption; and reflect on implications for sustainable basin management. Findings show that the volume of research in the global south is disproportionately small compared to basin population size, water withdrawals and water consumption. Moreover, research is predominantly led by global north institutions, shaping study themes and locations. While research in the global south focuses on hydro-politics and natural hazards, the global north emphasizes landscape ecology and governance. These insights highlight the need for more comprehensive assessments in the global south to support sustainable management of transboundary river basins.
This study reveals distinct regional patterns and biases in transboundary river research which has critical implications for their sustainable management Firstly, dominant perspectives and themes vary markedly by region, with Asia accounting for the highest proportion of studies (43.7%), primarily focusing on hydro-political conflicts in large river basins. North America and Europe, on the other hand, show a greater emphasis on small and medium-sized basins. Secondly, research priorities differ between the global north and south; the global north focuses on landscape ecology, technical and governance and policy issues due partly to its advanced infrastructure, while the global south emphasizes hydro-political conflicts and resource competition. This highlights the necessity for a more inclusive research agenda that considers the unique challenges of the global south, advocating for local capacity building and international collaboration. Thirdly, factors such as basin size, location, and water usage do not always reflect the types of research conducted as might be expected. Large river basins in Asia and Africa draw substantial attention due to their geopolitical complexity, while small-sized basins, despite their high population densities and water challenges, are underrepresented, particularly in Asia and Africa. The rising impact of natural hazards and climate change has shifted research towards disaster management, especially in vulnerable regions like South and Southeast Asia and Africa.
Lastly, research on transboundary rivers, particularly those with high runoff and large sizes, predominantly revolves around addressing conflicts arising from dam construction, fostering cooperation, negotiating water-sharing agreements, and managing the rivers between upstream and downstream regions. Examples of such rivers include the GBM, Mekong, Blue Nile, and Indus Rivers. The UNECE, Transboundary Water Assessment Programme (TWAP), and UN have developed several policy guidelines and universal methodologies on the benefits of transboundary water cooperation and how this can contribute to and help promote achievement of the regional, national, and continental SDGs (specifically SDG 6). The work of these international organisations underscores the need for equitable water management, yet important research gaps in small and medium-sized TRBs in the global south persist and may lead to key issues being overlooked or underplayed. Addressing these gaps requires enhancing science diplomacy, increasing research funding in underrepresented regions, and fostering North-South collaborations. Such efforts are essential for achieving the SDGs and ensuring sustainable, equitable management of TRBs. The output of the present review can help to understand the major geographical and thematic patterns of global transboundary research and how these patterns are linked with regional and continental environmental and climate change issues. The output of this study will also help to examine global SDGs and sustainable management in different continents and countries.
There are five primary limitations of this study. Firstly, their review databases were confined to Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar and they recognize the existence of additional literature on TRBs outside these platforms. Secondly, they limited their search to articles published in the English language. Thirdly, they restricted their analysis to peer-reviewed research documents, thereby excluding other potentially relevant research documents available online or offline. They acknowledge that grey literature, including reports from NGOs and policy briefs, represents another useful source of practical, up-to-date information and nuanced views from development and other relevant professional groups. However, they also expect that some of the learning from these resources would be reflected in the academic articles they did review given their narrow focus on specific TRB case studies. Fourthly, they did not include sub-basin names, operating under the hypothesis that sub-basin-based case studies would reference the main river basin name within the article. Finally, they recognize that there are alternative spellings and names for some of the TRBs. They attempted to minimize this error for all popular and large river basins by including alternative names, but due to the scarcity of documents available online, they were unable to extend this methodology to all small and medium-sized rivers. Despite these limitations, they believe that this article represents the most comprehensive review to date of research themes and activity in the transboundary river research literature. Their findings provide a foundation for recommendations for different stakeholder groups and for future research in this critical area to support sustainable management.
Sources:
Communications Earth & Environment
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01928-0 .
Provided by the IKCEST Disaster Risk Reduction Knowledge Service System
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