00:00Why is competition for water resources growing? Climate change and increased demand mean water
00:13is becoming scarcer. In the south of Europe, rivers and their tributaries face severe stress.
00:20And in Central and Eastern Europe, more droughts are predicted. Nearly half of the world's
00:25surface waters are shared by at least two countries or more.
00:30Europe has the highest number of communal river basins. That's the river and all the
00:34streams that flow into it. Many EU countries rely heavily on water that originates outside
00:42their borders. The Danube flows through several countries, including Germany, Slovakia, Moldova
00:49and Ukraine. The Danube River Protection Convention is the main framework for the Danube River
00:56Basin. Signed in 1994, it covers conserving and rational use of the water, flood prevention
01:03and pollution. The EU supports the UN's Water Convention and also regulates transboundary
01:11cooperation through laws including the Water Framework Directive and Floods Directive,
01:16all designed to boost water diplomacy and ensure common water is shared fairly.
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