Note: Translation of official document provided by Luiz Amore. Original available in Spanish and Portuguese.

Guarani

Aquifer

Agreement

Lying underneath an area that spans parts of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina is the Guarani Aquifer System, a trans-boundary hydrogeological reserve potentially containing enough freshwater to supply the world's population for 200 years.

At 1.2 million square kilometers, the Guarani is currently the source of drinking water for over 15 million people, primarily in Brazil.

Surface area: 1.2 million sq. km.

Territorial extension:

Brazil 850,000 sq. kmArgentina 225,000 sq. kmParaguay 70,000 sq. kmUruguay 25,000 sq. km

Volume: about 40,000 cu km.

1 cubic kilometer = 1 billion litres of water(enough to supply about 28 million homes per year in an average American city)

Only 40 to 80 cu km could be exploited from the aquifer.

It is worth noting that the aquifer is a renewable water source, since it is fed over 166 yearly cu. km of freshwater from rain and soil humidity.

Signed at San Juan, Republic of Argentina,

On August 2nd of 2010

The Guarani Aquifer Agreement

PARTICIPANTS

Republic of Argentina

Federative Republic of Brazil

Republic of Paraguay

Oriental Republic of Uruguay

OBJECTIVE

Expansion of levels of cooperation and integration

Conservation and sustainable utilization of the Guarani Aquifer System trans-boundary water resource

Expansion of the scope of collaborative actions for the same

CONTENTS 22 Articles

✔Resolution 1803 (XVII), UN General Assembly - related to the permanent sovereignty over natural resources

✔Resolution 63/124, UN General Assembly on the Law of Trans-boundary Aquifers

✔Declaration of the UN Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, 1972 – principles of natural resources protection, responsibility for reasonable utilization

✔Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, 1992 – responsibility to promote sustainable development

✔Summit of the Americas on Sustainable Development, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 1996

✔World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 2002

✔Treaty of the Plata River Basin, signed in Brasilia, 1969 – harmonious development of water resources and physical integration

✔Framework Agreement on the Environment of MERCOSUR, signed in Asuncion, 2001

✔Project for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development of the Guarani Aquifer System

✔Responsible management of the Guarani Aquifer System

RATIONALE

AGREEMENT

1. Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay are the 'Parties' involved, and are the sole owners of this resource.

2. Each Party exercises sovereign control over its respective portion of the Guarani Aquifer System (hereinafter referred to as 'GAS').

3. Parties hold the right to promote the management, monitoring, and sustainable utilization of the GAS in their respective territories.

4. Parties should ensure multiple, reasonable, sustainable, and equitable use of the GAS.

5. All activities related to the GAS should be in agreement with applicable international law.

6. Parties should adopt all necessary measures to avoid causing significant harm to the other Parties or the Environment, and eliminate or mitigate the same if harm has been done.

7. Parties should share and adequately exchange technical data, knowledge and information on studies, activities and works on the GAS, through cooperation programs and joint projects.

8. Parties should cooperatively identify critical areas of the GAS requiring specific treatment measurements.

9. A Commission composed by the four Parties, with its own regulations shall oversee the coordination and cooperation among the same, and their complying to the Agreement. All disputes shall be settled through direct confrontation, and informed to the Commission.

10. No reservations shall be permitted by the Agreement.

11. The Agreement shall have unlimited duration.

12. In case of conflict, Parties should try to negotiate and come to an agreement within 6 months, after which time (if not settled) the matter should be taken to the Commission. The Commission should solve the matter within 60 days, failing which an arbitration procedure shall be established.

13. Parties may denounce the Agreement through written notification, which shall take effect one year later.

REFLECTIONS

→ Phrases like “significant harm”, “adequate exchange of information”, “reasonable period”, etc., are very ambiguous and unclear on what is and isn't 'significant', 'adequate', or 'reasonable'.

→ Articles at the beginning of the document often tend to repeat similar elements (probably for the purpose of greater emphasis), which gives the document a repetitive tone.

→ If the denunciation of the Agreement is so easy and effortless, then practically any Party confronting a dispute may withdraw from the agreement if negotiations don't go their way, and proceed with their desired action, uninterrupted by obligations enforced by the Commission or the Agreement.

Thank you