Advancing Sustainable Seawater Desalination in the Persian Gulf: Opportunities and Challenges under the Kuwait Convention 1978

Abstract

Seawater desalination has emerged as a viable solution, notably utilized by
many Persian Gulf littoral countries facing severe water shortages and aiming
to achieve the targets of the sustainable development goal 6 regarding
ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for
all. However, desalination comes with costs and can adversely impact marine
ecosystems. Conserving and sustainably using oceans, seas, and marine
resources is one of the sustainable development goals (Goal 14), and
unmanaged use of desalination plants in the Persian Gulf Coasts can threaten
this goal. Therefore, moving towards a sustainable process of seawater
desalination in this region requires the promotion of cooperation, including
through the effective implementation of existing multilateral environmental
agreements (MEAs). Based on this, the main question of this paper is: what
are the opportunities and challenges of the Kuwait Convention (1978) in
advancing sustainable seawater desalination in Persian Gulf? The results of
descriptive and analytical studies based on library resources in this research
indicate that the provisions concerning the prevention, control and
combating of land-based pollution, as well as requirements for environmental
impact assessments, are the most significant opportunities provided by this
instrument. However, the lack of direct obligations regarding the
management of seawater desalination and non-existence of effective
compliance mechanisms are the challenges of this convention. To address
these challenges, adopting a seawater desalination management guideline
under ROPME, promoting international cooperation, sharing experiences
and knowledge related to innovative technologies and empowering
compliance mechanisms under this convention are the essential
recommendations for the effective implementation of the Kuwait Convention
towards sustainable seawater desalination in the region.