Blue Peace Index

The Blue Peace initiative, together with The Economist Impact, developed the Blue Peace Index based on the belief that scientific evidence and reliable data are essential for informed decisions and trust. The index measures how effectively countries manage and cooperate over shared water resources.

In understanding the dynamics of transboundary river basins – from surface water flows and groundwater hydrology to changing precipitation patterns induced by climate change – a foundation is laid for robust basin management plans, effective water policies, and collaborative transboundary agreements. This understanding, built through research, data exchange, and cooperation among countries, is essential for the development of sustainable policies, laws, and related agreements. The Blue Peace initiative actively supports this critical aspect of transboundary water management, engaging with governments, river basin organisations, and research institutes in the effective collection, sharing, and management of data and information, with a strong focus on digitalisation.

Blue Peace provides capacity building and expertise for research, support to reliable data generation and scientific analysis in order to support evidence-based decision-making. By facilitating transparency, trust, and cooperation among stakeholders, the exchange of data and information on transboundary waters becomes an essential first step for broader collaboration.

The Blue Peace Index

The Blue Peace Index is structured across five categories to help assess river basins and the countries involved in them. It offers a comprehensive assessment of the performance of transboundary water management and provides insights into strengths and weaknesses, as well as recommendations for further improvement. So far, the index has been applied to seven river basins in different parts of the world: the Amazon, Amu Darya, Mekong, Sava, Senegal, Syr Darya, and Tigris–Euphrates river basins. The tool provides an online workbook and a corresponding methodology that can be downloaded free of charge.

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