1st Edition
The UN Watercourses Convention in Force Strengthening International Law for Transboundary Water Management
At the UN General Assembly in 1997, an overwhelming majority of States voted for the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses – a global overarching framework governing the rights and duties of States sharing freshwater systems. Globally, there are 263 internationally shared watersheds, which drain the territories of 145 countries and represent more than forty percent of the Earth's land surface. Hence, inter-State cooperation towards the sustainable management of transboundary water supplies, in accordance with applicable international legal instruments, is a topic of crucial importance, especially in the context of the current global water crisis.
This volume provides an assessment of the role and relevance of the UN Watercourses Convention and describes and evaluates its entry into force as a key component of transboundary water governance. To date, the Convention still requires further contracting States before it can enter into force. The authors describe the drafting and negotiation of the Convention and its relationship to other multilateral environmental agreements. A series of case studies assess the role of the Convention at various levels: regional (European Union, East Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, Central America and South America), river basin (e.g. the Mekong and Congo) and national (e.g. Ethiopia and Mexico). The book concludes by proposing how future implementation might further strengthen international cooperation in the management of water resources, to promote biodiversity conservation as well as sustainable and equitable use.
Part 1: Background and Evolution
1. Introduction
Alistair Rieu-Clarke & Flavia Rocha Loures
2. The progressive development of international water law
Stephen C. McCaffrey
3. Possible Reasons Slowing Down the Ratification Process
Flavia Rocha Loures, Joseph W. Dellapenna, Alistair Rieu-Clarke
4. Misconceptions Regarding the UN Watercourse Convention’s Interpretation
Salman MA Salman
5. Why Have States Joined the UN Watercourses Convention?
Alistair Rieu-Clarke & Alexander López
Part 2: Entry into Force and Widespread Endorsement: Potential Effects on International Law and State Practice
6. The Authority and Function of the UN Watercourses Convention
Flavia Rocha Loures, Alistair Rieu-Clarke & Johan Lammers
7. Impacts on the International Architecture for Transboundary Waters
Alistair Rieu-Clarke & Guy Pegram
8. Factors that Could Limit the Effectiveness of the UN Watercourses Convention upon Entry into Force
Alistair Rieu-Clarke & Alexander López
Part 3: The potential role and relevance of the UN Watercourses Convention in specific regions, basins and countries
9. West Africa
Amidou Garane & Teslim Abul-Kareem
10. Southern Africa
Daniel Malzbender & Anton Earle
11. Central America
Alexander López & Ricardo Sancho
12. Nile River Basin
Musa Mohammed Abseno
13. Aral Sea Basin
Dinara Ziganshina
14. Amazon Basin
Joshua Newton
15. Mekong Basin
Bennett Bearden, Alistair Rieu-Clarke, Sokhem Pech
16. Ethiopia
Musa Mohammed Abseno
17. El Salvador
Alexander López & Meg Patterson
Part 4: The UN Watercourses Convention, MEAs and International Water and Environmental Policy Goals
18. Convention on Climate Change
Flavia Rocha Loures, Christian Behrmann, Ashok Swan
19. Convention to Combat Desertification
Christian Behrmann, Ashok Swain, Flavia Rocha Loures
20. UNECE Water Convention
Attila Tanzi
21. International Development and Environmental Goals
Nicole Kranz, Lesha Witmer & Uschi Eid
Part 5: Beyond Entry into Force: Strengthening the Role and Relevance of the UN Watercourses Convention
22. An Institutional Structure to Support the Implementation Process
Flavia Rocha Loures & Alistair Rieu-Clarke
23. Filling Gaps: A Protocol to Govern Groundwater Resources of Relevance to International Law
Flavia Rocha Loures & Joseph W. Dellapenna
24. Reconciling the UN Watercourses Convention with Recent Developments in Customary International Law
Owen McIntyre & Mara Tignino
Part 6: Emerging Challenges and Future Trends
25. Governing International Watercourses in an Era of Climate Change
Jamie Pittock & Flavia Rocha Loures
26. Benefit Sharing in the UN Watercourses Convention and under International Water Law
Patricia Wouters & Ruby Moynihan
27. Water Security – Legal Frameworks and the UN Watercourses Convention
Patricia Wouters & Ruby Moynihan
28. Transboundary Water Interactions and the UN Watercourses Convention: Allocating Waters and Implementing Principles
Naho Mirumachi, Mark Zeitoun & Jeroen Warner
Index
Biography
Flavia Rocha Loures is a Senior Program Officer, International Law and Policy, in the Freshwater Program of WWF, based in Washington, DC.
Alistair Rieu-Clarke is a Reader in the Centre for Water Law, Policy & Science (under the auspices of UNESCO) at the University of Dundee, UK.
