In 1997, more than 100 nations gathered to adopt the UN Watercourses Convention-a flexible and overarching global legal framework that establishes basic standards and rules for cooperation between watercourse states on the use, management, and protection of international watercourses.

The equitable and sustainable allocation and management of water are crucial for maintaining the ecological function of freshwater water ecosystems. These functions sustain the significant services that these ecosystems provide to support human well-being; biodiversity underpins the functioning of these