On 23 October, researchers of the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) convened a workshop in Ulaanbaatar, jointly with the Mongolian branch of the 2030 Water Resources Group of the World Bank. Participants from the Mongolian Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Mining, the private sector, and from NGOs discussed existing coordination deficits between the water and the mining sector, the suitability of specific solution strategies for the Mongolian context, and devised recommendations to improve existing coordination instruments.
Discussions centered around four key issues: 1. Improving stakeholder involvement, 2. Improving access to water-related data, 3. Improving incentives for mining companies to treat wastewaters, and 4. Closing the gap between water demand and supply for the mining sector.
The workshop built on research conducted within the STEER project, which investigates coordination challenges between the water sector and other sectors as well as potential solutions in five different case studies.