Climate Science and Policy

The countries within the Nile Basin have become increasingly water stressed with each passing year due to the intensification of climate change, and disagreements about water allocation rights between these countries only exacerbate the issue. For about a century, Ethiopia and Egypt have been quarrelling over rights to the Nile’s waters with no resolution in sight. In 2011, Ethiopia began construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which increased tensions. As of 2023, the dam’s construction was completed but negotiations have made no meaningful progress. The dam worsens political relations but impacts the environment, economy, and society in both positive and negative ways. Considering these impacts and the example of the demolition of the Klamath River dams, it was determined that dam demolition would be the most beneficial and equitable course of action, in the long run, for all the Nile River riparian countries. A policy memo was then constructed advocating for demolition of the GERD.