scholarly journals Water Security and International Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Cullet ◽  
Lovleen Bhullar ◽  
Sujith Koonan
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Security Discourse ◽  
Hybrid Framework ◽  
International Water Law ◽  
International Water ◽  
Dominant Paradigm

International law seeks to ensure water security and to prevent or resolve conflicts leading to water insecurity. This relationship is based on a hybrid framework comprising binding and nonbinding instruments. The multi-scalar dimensions of water (in)security are recognized, but further engagement is required. The link between international law and water (in)security is considered primarily through the lens of international water law, which focuses on transboundary (surface) watercourses. Groundwater—the other main source of water and determinant of water (in)security—receives little attention. Further, the traditional state-centric approach, with its emphasis on sovereignty and cooperation, remains the dominant paradigm despite some attempts to redefine it. Several other branches of international law present opportunities for expanding international law's engagement with the water security discourse. Finally, the climate change challenge requires a reconsideration of international law's approach to water (in)security while considering the global dimensions of water. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, Volume 17 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

International Water Law in Central Asia: The Nature of Substantive Norms and what Flows from It

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinara ZIGANSHINA
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Aral Sea ◽  
Aral Sea Basin ◽  
Transboundary Waters ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
International Water Law ◽  
International Water ◽  
Reasonable Use

Water security issues arising from the Central Asian states’ heavy reliance on, and competition over, the shared waters of the Aral Sea Basin have attracted urgent political and academic discussion. However, any analysis of the role that international law plays in addressing these substantive complex problems remains incomplete and imprecise. This article sets the stage for a deeper understanding of international law and of its potential operation in the context of the transboundary waters in the Aral Sea Basin. It seeks to explore the substantive norms operating in the field, namely, the rule of equitable and reasonable use, the no-harm rule, and obligations relating to environmental protection, with a view to understanding how these substantive norms work and ascertaining what conduct is required of the states with respect to their shared watercourses.

scholarly journals Water Security and International Law

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Kuokkanen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Water Law ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
International Water Law ◽  
International Water ◽  
The Relationship

The article explores water security from an international law point of view. The article argues that in order to better understand water security it is important to focus on the function of international water law. Even though water security is a relatively recent concept it was latent in the process of the evolution of international water law.  In addition, the article examines the relationship between man and water from the point of view of water security. The article seeks to answer the question: how does international water law deal with that relationship? Is water only an object to be utilized and protected or has the relationship become more complex and ambivalent through the occurrence of various extreme events. Furthermore, the article places the concept of water security into a historiographical and substantive context. It explores three broad approaches by international law to water issues: general international law, the regulatory approach and the management approach. The article argues that they are all relevant to water security. Finally, the article seeks to demonstrate that even though water security has emerged as a new notion, this does not mean that international law does not include rules and principles relevant for water security. Indeed, many general principles of international law are applicable in the context of water security. In addition, specific regulations dealing with water quantity and quality issues have been developed in international environmental law, although they are not necessarily labelled as water security rules. Moreover, various risk management methods have been elaborated to deal with water-related disasters and crises. Reciprocally, water security arguments are not necessarily new notions but rather reflect already existing concepts and principles. 

scholarly journals O Papel do Institut du Droit International e da International Law Association na Codificação das normas do Direito Internacional de Águas: entre hard law e soft law

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (39) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gildo Manuel Espada
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Water Law ◽  
Hard Law ◽  
The Status ◽  
International Water Law ◽  
International Water ◽  
Droit International ◽  
Vital Resource

RESUMOA importância da água como recurso vital para a humanidade e as disputas sobre o acesso a este recurso são cada vez mais intensas. Aliado a estes factos, acontece que grande parte dos recursos de água do planeta faz parte de recursos hídricos partilhados entre dois ou mais Estados. Este facto fez com que algumas organizações internacionais, mormente o Institut du Droit International e a International Law Association se esforçassem em codificar o Direito Internacional de Águas. Entretanto, apesar de todo o esforço feito, as normas aprovadas não obtiveram o estatuto de hard law, sendo aplicadas na qualidade de normas de soft law. Discutimos aqui a validade e importância de tais normas, no âmbito da Codificação do Direito de Águas. Para tal, fazemos um levantamento bibliográfico que visa o resgate histórico do surgimento do Direito de Águas, e trazemos importantes conceitos aplicáveis à temática. PALAVRAS-CHAVECodificação. Direito. Águas. ABSTRACTThe importance of water as a vital resource for humanity and the disputes over access to this resource are increasingly intense. Together with these facts, a large part of the planet´s water resources are shared between two or more States. These facts have led to a number of international organizations, including the Institut de Droit International and the International Law Association to embark in efforts to codify the International water Law.  However, despite all the efforts made, the rules adopted did not obtain the status of hard law, being only accepted and applied as soft law. We discuss here the validity and importance of such standards, within the framework of the codification of water law. To do this, we make a bibliographical research that aims to review the emergence of Water Law historically, and to bring important concepts applicable to this thematic. KEYWORDSCodification. Law. Water.

Moving Ahead in Protecting Freshwater Resources: The International Law Commission's Draft Articles on Transboundary Aquifers

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 801-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
KERSTIN MECHLEM
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Water Law ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Freshwater Resources ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
International Water Law ◽  
International Water ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers

AbstractOn 11 December 2008 the UN General Assembly adopted a set of draft articles on the law of transboundary aquifers which had been prepared by the International Law Commission (ILC) between 2002 and August 2008. These draft articles are the first official instrument that lays down rules of international law for the management and protection of groundwater, which makes up 97 per cent of the Earth's freshwater resources, excluding the resources locked in polar ice. This article discusses the contribution of the draft articles to the development of international water law. It first provides some background on the importance of shared groundwater resources, then describes the ILC's work on transboundary aquifers, and finally assesses in detail the draft articles and the way ahead.

scholarly journals International Law for Transboundary Aquifers: A Challenge for Our Times

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 201-206
Author(s):  
Gabriel Eckstein
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Transboundary Rivers ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Growing Pains ◽  
Rivers And Lakes ◽  
International Water Law ◽  
International Water

Quarrels between states sharing a transboundary aquifer (TBA) have been relatively minor in comparison with the more boisterous disputes seen in many of the world's shared river basins. Yet, transboundary groundwater can easily serve as the basis for cross-border disagreements. Twice as many TBAs and shared groundwater bodies have been identified globally as compared to transboundary rivers and lakes, and the volume of accessible groundwater exceeds all surface waters by a factor of one hundred. Yet, the number of treaties in force for TBAs is miniscule in comparison with those for transboundary rivers and lakes. Moreover, dozens of nations exploit groundwater from a TBA, often unilaterally and without knowing the cross-border implications, or even that the aquifer is transboundary. The lack of prioritization of groundwater in international practice and law, coupled with the reality that groundwater is “out of sight,” and thereby “out of mind,” has relegated shared aquifers as the neglected stepchildren of international water law. But, with many of the world's nations experiencing growing water scarcity and stress, this situation undoubtedly will change. This essay highlights the growing pains of international groundwater law and the challenges for its identification and articulation. Specific hydrogeologic characteristics of various TBAs are presented and, where relevant, placed in the context of water scarcity and security and recognized international legal norms.

Race in International Relations: Beyond the “Norm Against Noticing”

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianca Freeman ◽  
D.G. Kim ◽  
David A. Lake
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Racial Hierarchy ◽  
Global Movement

The global movement for racial justice and the rise of anti-Asian hate at the height of the pandemic have called new attention to race and racism in international politics. Although critical theorists have decried the “norm against noticing,” other scholars of international relations have long sidestepped the possible role of race in shaping contemporary international affairs. New studies of hierarchy in international relations open the door for new understandings of race in world politics. We propose an analytic framework for the relationship between racial hierarchy, international law, and foreign policy, demonstrating that race can help explain patterns of interstate interactions that sustain an unequal global order. Positing two faces of racism in international relations, we examine how race biases international law in practice and affects the assessment of foreign threats and national interest. We discuss key methodological challenges in empirical research on race in international relations, focusing on issues of measurement, aggregation, and causation. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 25 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Political Ecology and Contours of Vulnerability to Water Insecurity in Semiarid North-Eastern Ghana

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinko Hanaan Dinko ◽  
Joseph Yaro ◽  
John Kusimi
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Rigid Fixation ◽  
Water Insecurity ◽  
Minimal Impact ◽  
Security Discourse ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Access Rights ◽  
Economic Imbalances

Vulnerability to water insecurity in Ghana has often been characterised as a biophysical phenomenon that can be objectively solved using technical and rational approaches to manage water resources use and allocation – thus, making vulnerability to water security discourse politically neutral. Contesting this orthodoxy, this article shows the multiple mechanisms and structures that undergird vulnerability of households to water insecurity in semiarid Ghana. Vulnerability to water insecurity is often veiled in political and economic imbalances that constrain the choices of people in their daily water realities. We argue that a rigid fixation on the biophysical conceptualisation of water insecurity separates nature from society while simultaneously ignoring the lived insecurities resulting from the contours of power. Policy formulation based on this conceptualisation without addressing the access rights and differentiated vulnerabilities could be misleading while yielding minimal impact.

Notification concerning Planned Measures on Shared Watercourses

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-106
Author(s):  
Salman M. A. Salman
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
World Bank ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Wide Acceptance ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Legal Foundations ◽  
International Water Law ◽  
International Water ◽  
Implementation Experience

AbstractNotification of co-riparian states of planned measures on shared watercourses has been widely accepted as an established principle of international water law, and is codified and elaborated in the United Nations Watercourses Convention. However, despite this wide acceptance, issues have arisen in operationalizing notification, and in dealing with the different types of responses that may ensue following notification. The World Bank has been financing projects on international watercourses since its inception in the late 1940s, and has built an extensive wealth of policies and experience in this field. This monograph discusses the historical and legal foundations of notification under international law, analyses the policies and implementation experience of the World Bank thereon, and identifies comparators and synergies between the provisions of the Watercourses Convention and the Bank policies and practice.

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