Page - (000032) - in options, Volume summer 2021

Cooperation and joint investments are key to sustainable development in the Indus basin Achieving sustainable development in the Indus basin will strongly depend on the capacity of riparian countries to realize the opportunities that arise when cooperation and joint investments across sectors and countries are embraced. J In the absence of ambitious investments, future water demand will exceed the available water resources of the Indus basin by 2050 and put the system at risk of collapse. The impacts will be particularly acute in the downstream parts of Pakistan. J Joint water, food, and energy investments can help to meet the basin’s sustainable development agenda by 2050 without increasing water demand and easing existing water stress. J Pursuing a sustainable development pathway will require annual investments of approximately US$85 billion per year up to 2050. Such investments would be 13% more than what would be required for continuing along a business-as-usual pathway, but social and environmental returns will be larger. J The distribution of additional investments needed to put the Indus basin on a sustainable development pathway will mostly be borne by Pakistan and India in the amount of around $5 billion and $4 billion per year respectively, and to a lesser extent by A fghanistan in the amount of $1 billion per year. J Overall investment costs could be reduced by up to 9% if riparian countries decided to cooperate and develop joint sustainable investments. Such a strategy will not only reduce the financial burden, but also deliver the greatest social and environmental benefits. J Cooperation strategies include the promotion of internal trade and the allocation of energy and food production to the regions with the largest comparative advantages. IIASA POLICY BRIEF #28FEBRUARY 2021 © Rud ra N araya n Mitra | Dreamstime www.iiasa.ac.at/ keepintouch