Reciprocity And China S Transboundary Waters

Utilizing the principle of reciprocity, Reciprocity and China’s Transboundary Waters: The Law of International Watercourses analyses the past, present and future of the law of international watercourses with a particular focus on China. As a legal principle, reciprocity plays a strong role in the formation, interpretation and maintenance of international law. Implementing this framework, the book examines the development of the law of international watercourses, highlighting how this basic legal principle is a foundational notion. It applies the framework to China and offers insights into one of the most important transboundary states in Asia. As a primarily upstream state, China is of great significance to its transboundary neighbours; however, there remain significant hurdles, misunderstandings and mistrust between China and its neighbours. China is faced with a complex challenge - how to meet its own development needs while also taking into consideration its primarily downstream neighbours? By focusing on this prominent state this work not only fosters a greater understanding of the law of international watercourses within China, but also clarifies and challenges current perceptions of China’s transboundary water treaty practice. More generally, the book provides a past, present and future view on international watercourse law, starting with an analysis of the UN Watercourses Convention and UNECE Water Convention leading to a discussion of reciprocity’s continued influence as well as charting a path forward. This book will be of great interest to legal students and scholars with an interest in international watercourses, environmental politics and international law, as well as students and scholars interested in Chinese politics and natural resource management and conflict.

This book examines water resource management in China’s electric power sector and the implications for energy provision in the face of an emerging national water crisis and global climate change. Over 75% of China’s current electricity comes from coal. Coal-fired power plants are reliant on water, with plants using significant volumes of water every year, yet water resources are unevenly distributed. In the face of serious environmental concerns and increasing electricity demand, this book examines the environmental impacts that coal power plants have on water resources and the impact water availability has on the electricity sector in a country with a significant number of water-scarce provinces and a large number of power plants located on inland waterways. It discusses the water impacts and constraints for transforming the electric power sector away from coal to renewable energy sources, such as hydropower and concentrated solar power. The book adopts a mix-method approach, combining a plant-level quantitative analysis on water impacts and dependencies in China’s electricity sector and a qualitative analysis of relevant institutions in both sectors. By reviewing policy and institution cases in China’s water and electricity sectors, the book provides important recommendations calling for coordinated institutions to shift away from the current paradigm where water and electricity are governed independently. Enriching the water-energy nexus literature, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars working on water resource management, energy industries and Chinese environmental policy, as well as policymakers and practitioners in those fields.

China and its neighbours face a series of water security issues, in which international law plays a vital role. Paramount to both policymakers and researchers in the field of water law, the current status of transboundary water cooperation schemes and how these operate in China is of global significance. Grounded in international experience, this comprehensive volume provides readers with an up-to-date overview of current international transboundary water resource sharing policies and practices, including detailed case studies at both domestic and international levels. The authors discuss existing international laws, treaties, and principles that may stimulate transboundary water cooperation and dialogue, and then analyse a number of international experiences with treaties in North America, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. They take stock of China’s water resource issues, legal practices and options, examine case studies of China’s southern shared rivers, and explore some innovative approaches to cooperative management of shared waters within China. The articles in this book were originally published in the journal Water International.

Will tensions and disputes among states sharing international water courses and lakes turn into active conflicts? Addressing this question, the book shows that these concerns are more prominent due to the locations and underlying political dynamics of some of these large rivers and the strategic interests of major powers. Written by a combination of leading practitioners and academics, this book shows that states are more prone to cooperate and manage their transboundary issues over the use of their common water resources through peaceful means, and the key institutions they employ are international river basin organizations (RBOs). Far from being mere technical institutions, RBOs are key mechanisms of water diplomacy with capacity and effectiveness varying on four key interrelated factors: their legal and institutional development, and the influence of their technical and strategic resources. The basins analyzed span all continents, from both developed and developing basins, including the Columbia, Great Lakes, Colorado, Senegal, Niger, Nile, Congo, Jordan, Helmand, Aral Sea, Mekong, Danube and Rhine. Contributing to the academic discourse on transboundary water management and water conflict and cooperation, the book provides insights to policy-makers on which water diplomacy engagements can be successful, the strengths to build on and the pitfalls to avoid so that shared water resources are managed in a cooperative, sustainable and stable way.

This book analyses the legal challenges facing international cooperation on water management in the twenty-first century.

A new edition of the veteran science writer's groundbreaking work on the world's water crisis, featuring all-new reporting from the most recent global flashpoints Throughout history, rivers have been our foremost source of fresh water for both agriculture and individual consumption, but looming water scarcity threatens to cut global food production and cause conflict and unrest. In this visionary book, Fred Pearce takes readers around the world on a tour of the world's rivers to provide our most complete portrait yet of the growing global water crisis and its ramifications for us all. With vivid on-the-ground reporting, Pearce deftly weaves together the scientific, economic, and historic dimensions of the water crisis, showing us its complex origins--from waste to wrong-headed engineering projects to high-yield crop varieties that have saved developing countries from starvation but are now emptying their water reserves. Pearce argues that the solution to the growing worldwide water shortage is more efficiency and a new water ethic based on managing the water cycle for maximum social benefit rather than narrow self-interest.

This book examines the political economy that governs the management of international transboundary river basins in the developing world. These shared rivers are the setting for irrigation, hydropower and flood management projects as well as water transfer schemes. Often, these projects attempt to engineer the river basin with deep political, socio-economic and environmental implications. The politics of transboundary river basin management sheds light on the challenges concerning sustainable development, water allocation and utilization between sovereign states. Advancing conceptual thinking beyond simplistic analyses of river basins in conflict or cooperation, the author proposes a new analytical framework. The Transboundary Waters Interaction NexuS (TWINS) examines the coexistence of conflict and cooperation in riparian interaction. This framework highlights the importance of power relations between basin states that determine negotiation processes and institutions of water resources management. The analysis illustrates the way river basin management is framed by powerful elite decision-makers, combined with geopolitical factors and geographical imaginations. In addition, the book explains how national development strategies and water resources demands have a significant role in shaping the intensities of conflict and cooperation at the international level. The book draws on detailed case studies from the Ganges River basin in South Asia, the Orange–Senqu River basin in Southern Africa and the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia, providing key insights on equity and power asymmetry applicable to other basins in the developing world.