What is Environmental- and Water Governance all about?
According to professors at Stanford University, "environmental governance" involves much more than the work of governments:
“Environmental governance relates to decision-makers at all levels—government managers and ministers, business people, property owners, farmers, and consumers. In short, it deals with who is responsible, how they wield their power, and how they are held accountable for the impacts of their actions on other people and on natural resources".
Environmental Governance is the means by which society determines and acts on goals and priorities related to the management of natural resources. This includes the rules, both formal and informal, that govern human behavior in decision-making processes. as well as the decisions themselves.
Water governance, a specific sub-set of environmental governance, refers to the political, social, economic and administrative systems that influence the use and management of water. Essentially, who gets what water, when and how, and who has the right to water and related services, and their benefits. It determines the equity and efficiency in water resource and services allocation and distribution, and balances water use between socio-economic activities and ecosystems that supports the human use of natural resources".
Water governance includes the formulation, establishment and implementation of water-related policies, legislation and institutions, and clarification of the roles and responsibilities of government, civil society and the private sector in relation water resources and services. The outcomes depend on how the stakeholders act in relation to the rules and roles that have been taken or assigned to them, AND on how those rules are applied and implemented by those responsible for enforcing them.
And it is important to remember that all stakeholders approach rules and challenges in different ways:
There are two types of environmental and water governance: GOOD governance, and BAD governance. According to the IUCN, appropriate, science-based legal frameworks on the global, regional, national, and local levels are a prerequisite for good environmental governance.
Good governance is therefore founded in scientific principles, and results from decisions made based on sound and verifiable data and information, by informed role-players.
And this is why CBSS specialises in providing three types of solutions, to ensure that current and future role-players are capacitated to take informed decisions, based on verifiable data. Thus, we can facilitate GOOD governance, which is the only way to a sustainable future.
CBSS specialises in providing three types of solutions:
We have provided sustainable solutions in especially water governance to many different types of clients, including mining companies, petro-chemical and other chemical industries, agro-businesses, environmental consultancies, local and national government departments, water user associations and irrigation boards, labour unions, environmental NGOs, and universities.
Some of our clients who have benefited from our solutions:
