Regional Environmental Cooperation: The (Lost) Potential for a Sustainable Future in the Arabian/Persian Gulf

Abstract

Environmental concerns related to the health of the marine ecosystems, the negative impacts of coastal infrastructure and the deterioration of water quality (e.g., increasing salinity and warming trends of the Gulf waters) are threatening development prospects in the Persian/Arabian Gulf region. Many of these challenges require a cooperative approach, as the Gulf waters resemble characteristics of common pool resources. Regional environmental cooperation can also be an important contributor to peace and a prosperous future in the region. The chapter aims at examining the legacies as well as potential fields of regional environmental cooperation in the Arabian/Persian Gulf. It first conceptualizes environmental cooperation in relation to regional cooperation models and sustainability politics, and as a viable component of the interdisciplinary idea of positive peace. Later, it highlights the cooperation legacies in the region with regard to environmental sustainability. Using current overarching challenges (marine protection, resource supply infrastructure integration and risks, extremes and global warming), the chapter analyzes the status of cooperation, identifies cooperation fields, and stipulates recommendations for joint action. The high potential and the contemporary necessity for regional cooperation are far short of the countries' efforts to harmonize and coordinate actions, while the region is still dominated by traditional rivalry politics and governance frameworks that are sectoral, nationally oriented, and loosely integrated into the international sustainability agenda.