Twenty years of successful water cooperation On 3-4 September
2012, the Finnish Ministries for Foreign Affairs, of Agriculture
and Forestry, and of the Environment hosted an anniversary event
to celebrate 20 years of the Helsinki Convention and debate its
future. On this occasion, about seventy participants who have
been involved in the development and running of the UNECE Water
Convention gathered in Helsinki, two decades after its adoption
in 1992, to contribute their inspiring thoughts to a symposium
resolutely looking into the future. The convention stresses that
water is the critical resource of the 21st century. While
demands for water continue to increase, availability is
dwindling. Water resources are stressed by overuse and
pollution, and floods and droughts are becoming more frequent
and intense. Water resources that cross political boundaries
cover nearly half of the Earth’s land surface and account for an
estimated 60 percent of global freshwater flow. They support the
income and livelihoods of mi