International Law And Freshwater

ÔFreshwater is an essential resource. This book offers a comprehensive international look at diverse issues arising from water use for human consumption, agriculture, energy, industry, waste disposal and ecosystem conservation. The contributions, written primarily but not exclusively by legal experts, are highly informed and insightful. In addition to more traditional topics, they address the WTO and natural resources, EthiopiaÕs large-scale commercial farms, and aquifer management in the Geneva region and Latin America. An important read for scholars, policy-makers, and concerned citizens.Õ à Edith Brown Weiss, Georgetown University, US ÔThis excellent book covers the important legal and political perspectives on the worldÕs freshwater resources. The chapters, written by distinguished experts from academia and practice, systematically address issues of economics, environment, sovereignty over resources, energy, conflict resolution, and in addition offer some in depth case studies. A wonderful book and compulsory reading for who needs to have the full picture of the complex international dynamics of freshwater in our time.Õ à Catherine Bršlmann, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands ÔThis volume provides a masterful investigation of the multiple points of interaction between freshwater and international law, and compelling and insightful analyses of such interactions bearing out and substantiating the thrust of the volume à mapping out the Òmultiple challengesÓ facing international law in its water governance role at different, relevant scales à global, regional and sub-regional. The volumeÕs focus on these Òmultiple challengesÓ is particularly welcome at a time when the planetÕs freshwater endowment is coming under increasing pressure from a multiplicity of factors, forcing policymakers, lawmakers, government negotiators and private-sector players on the water scene to challenge well-established behavioural and regulatory patterns, domestically and in relation to transboundary inter-State relations. In its stimulating multifarious approach, the volume offers fresh and insightful perspectives of some tested facets of the water governance role of international law, dealing with rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers shared by a multiplicity of States. Some novel facets like, notably, the human right to water, trans-national trade in land and water resources, the rights of local communities, and State succession to water treaties, are also canvassed masterfully, adding to the value of the volume not only to international water law specialists, but also to the vast and growing population of water professionals in general. In sum, the volume is a must for all those who know and practise international and domestic water law, who influence the international water governance debate at the global, regional, and sub-regional scales, and who, in general, interact with water resources in the transboundary but also in the domestic setting of their respective countries.Õ à Stefano Burchi, Chairman of the International Association for Water Law à AIDA ÔEssential as it is to human life, over one billion people currently lack access to safe drinking water and by 2025 this group could grow to three billion. Nowhere is this situation more critical than in the over 260 international drainage basins shared by two or more states where more than half of the worldÕs population will reside by the year 2050. International Law and Freshwater is an outstanding piece of legal and policy scholarship that poignantly, thoughtfully and effectively addresses the who, what, where, when and how of international waters governance and international law.Õ à Richard Kyle Paisley, University of British Columbia, Canada The issues surrounding water embody some of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. The editors of this timely book have brought together the leading authors in the field to explore the key questions involving international law and water governance. International Law and Freshwater connects recent legal developments through the breadth and synergies of a multidisciplinary analysis. It addresses such critical issues as water security, the right to water, international cooperation and dispute resolution, State succession to transboundary watercourse treaties, and facets of international economic law, including trade in Ôvirtual waterÕ and the impacts of Ôland grabsÕ. Containing detailed analysis and thought-provoking solutions, this book will appeal to researchers and academics working in the legal field, as well as international relations and natural sciences. Water practitioners, public officials, diplomats and students will also find much to interest them in this insightful study.

Fresh water is an environmental, economic, social, and cultural commodity. This book provides a thorough assessment of its protection, management, and uses in international law. It explores the international, regional, and national regulatory frameworks that make up the international legal regime regulating fresh water.

This book traces the development of international water law that has come to privilege and the water utilisation rights of sovereign states over the environment. It argues that existing mechanisms in international law can be applied to improve environmental protection.

Recent decades have seen pivotal changes in the management and protection of water resources, with human rights, environmental and water law each developing a strong interest in the conservation of fresh water. This surge in interest has meant that dispute settlement mechanisms, along with diplomatic tools, are becoming increasingly necessary for conflict resolution. This Handbook offers an analysis of the interaction between law and various forms of knowledge and expertise, ranging from economics to environmental and social sciences. Leading scholars examine general and specific water legal regimes and analyse the interplay between various disciplines in order to establish the extent to which law is informed by each.

Facing the deficits of international water law in safeguarding a basic water supply, the book discusses the appropriateness of a human rights-based approach to freshwater access, determines its legal basis in international human rights law, and develops suggestions for law improvement.

Effectively managing increasingly scarce transboundary water resources in many parts of the world may become one of the most critical challenges facing the international community in the 21st century. Global warming is expected to exacerbate the existing problems of water scarcity in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, and threatens to affect even relatively water-secure regions and countries. Global freshwater resources are shrinking at an increasing pace. Forty percent of the world's population depends on transboundary water resources, a situation that raises serious concerns at the international level. Unresolved issues of water resource use and allocation may create the potential for serious interstate conflicts and undermine regional stability. It is imperative that existing and potential disputes over access to shared water resources are resolved through peaceful means within the framework of legal principles and norms provided by international law. While not yet in force, the 1997 UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses codifies a number of rules of customary law that apply to international watercourses. However, even in the absence of a universally ratified instrument there is a body of international rules widely acknowledged as an authoritative statement of international law governing international watercourses - the International Law Association (ILA) rules on the law of international water resources. The present book, which contains the complete collection of the ILA rules on international water resources, together with comments, explanatory notes and other supporting materials, will be of significant academic and practical value to the range of experts working in this field. There is no doubt that legal scholars and researchers will find this book very helpful in discovering the conceptual underpinings and the evolution of international water law. For the practitioners, this collection will serve as a useful reference tool containing a wealth of 'black letter' normative material.

The Research Handbook on International Water Law surveys the field of the law of shared freshwater resources. In some thirty chapters, it covers subjects ranging from the general principles operative in the field and international groundwater law to the human right to water and whether international water law is prepared to cope with climate disruption. The authors are internationally recognized experts in the field, most with years of experience. The Research Handbook is edited by three scholars and practitioners whose publications and work deal with the law of international watercourses.