Identification of the priority transboundary issues

The first stage in the TDA process was to agree on the transboundary issues. Initial consultations had already highlighted the main issues but it was important to revisit them, agree on whether or not the list was complete, examine their transboundary relevance, determine preliminary priorities and examine the geographical and temporal scope of the identified issues.

During the preparatory phase of GIWA, a classification was developed of the 5 major concerns related to the degradation of international waters and their associated living systems, together with a list of 22 key issues underlying these perceptions. In order to determine the geographical scale of the system to be examined and to assess the importance of each of the 22 GIWA issues within the system in terms of their environmental and socio-economic impacts, a scaling and scoping methodology was developed.

This methodology was considered too complex and prescriptive for the TDA approach. However, a simplified prioritisation exercise based on the scoping component of the GIWA methodology was carried out in order to determine the severity of the environmental and socio-economic impacts of the 22 GIWA issues and also to determine the relevance and transboundary nature of each issue. Each transboundary issue was scored on a scale of 0 (no impact) to 3 (severe impact) for both environmental and socio-economic impacts.

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