The Danube River starts in Germany and eventually flows into the Black Sea some 2,850 kilometres and ten countries later. If Germany were to dam or pollute the river, it could potentially affect nine other countries – and four of their capitals.
The Danube may be the world’s most multinational river, but it’s only one of an estimated 310 rivers and lakes shared between two or more countries, along with 468 underground water sources known as aquifers. I recently went to New York to a major UN conference – the first dedicated to water in decades – to try and help strengthen political commitment over these “transboundary” bodies of water.
