In Data Innovations for Transboundary Freshwater Resources Management: Are Obligations Related to Information Exchange Still Needed?, Christina Leb discusses how technology innovations disrupt the conventional methods of data and information exchange and the potential impact this may have on international water law. Cross-border data and information exchange is one of the most challenging issues for transboundary water management. Only a small number of treaties include direct obligations related to mutual data and information exchange. Technological innovations related to real-time data availability, space technology and earth observation have led to an increase in quality and availability of hydrological, meteorological and geo-spatial data. These innovations open new avenues for access to water related data and transform data and information exchange globally. This monograph is an exploratory assessment of the potential impacts of these disruptive technologies on data and information exchange obligations in international water law.
Big data analytics is transforming the water sector at the national and international levels. Its potential impact on transboundary water resource governance is being assessed, in the context of selected basins in this book.
This timely Research Agenda provides imaginative solutions to existing and emerging challenges for the study, application, and development of water law. It argues for a dynamic approach to water law, anticipating how water and its relationship to humanity will shift due to climate change, modern societal norms and values, and technological innovation.
Implementing International Watercourses Law through the WEF Nexus and SDGs: An Integrated Approach Illustrated in the Zambezi River Basin offers an innovative approach to the implementation of international water law (IWL) through integration of the law, the WEF Nexus and SDGs.
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.
Discover the hydrosocial cycle and the impact of power, knowledge, and scarcity on water rights and use through this engaging and student-friendly textbook In Water: A Critical Introduction, a team of distinguished researchers delivers an expert examination of our most pressing water-related challenges, arguing that flows of water are shaped by social practices and geometries of power. Combining first-hand research and headline case studies, the authors reveal the hydrosocial relations often hidden in mainstream accounts of water, delving into current issues like water scarcity, floods, global water governance, legal conflicts, human rights, potable water provision, health, the water-food-energy nexus, and much more. Spanning five centuries, this comprehensive volume reflects on how imperial expansion has shaped hydrosocial relations in and between Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, how water demand has changed over time, and how this change impacted lifestyle. As the first major text to synthesize critical water research in both local and global perspectives, this book is anchored by clear and compelling arguments — the "four planks" — and supported by the authors' original research and up-to-date synthesis of the latest critical research on major water problems. It also includes maps, illustrations, and additional learning materials to be used by educators. Readers will find: A lively and thorough introduction that explains why a critical approach is necessary to fully understand our current water challenges, with a focus on the "skeptical superhero" A global approach to key debates in water issues, including large dams, privatization, transboundary conflicts, agriculture and irrigation, water and sanitation provision, human rights, governance dilemmas, and the Sustainable Development Goals Comprehensive explorations of the roles played by expert knowledge, global capital, climate change, and justice struggles in the hydrosocial cycle Critical theoretical perspectives that integrate environmental social sciences, feminist critique, and a broadly defined political economy with the specificities of water resources Fulsome treatments of water governance, science, and management, including the origins and implications of neoliberal approaches to the privatization, commodification, and financialization of water An accessible text that "invites the reader" on a critical journey Water: A Critical Introduction is a key text for advanced high school, undergraduate, and graduate students who want a keener understanding of trends in environmental management, political ecology, and water governance, science, and engineering. Written with an interdisciplinary audience in mind, this book will benefit students taking courses in environmental studies, environmental law, geopolitics, international studies, human geography, hydrology, engineering, environmental economics, and related disciplines.
This book addresses the diverse ways in which international law governs the uses, management, and protection of fresh water. The regulation of fresh water has primarily developed through the conclusion of treaties concerning international watercourses, yet a number of other legal regimes also apply to the governance of fresh water. In particular, there has been an increasing recognition of the importance of fresh water to environmental protection. The development of international human rights law and international humanitarian law has also proven crucial for ensuring the sound and equitable management of this resource. In addition, the economic uses of fresh water feature prominently in the law applicable to watercourses, while water itself has become an important element of the trade and investment regimes. These bodies of rules and principles not only surface in an array of dispute settlement mechanisms, but also stimulate wider trends of institutionalization. Since the publication of the first edition of this volume in 2013, water has continued to be at the forefront of the international agenda, and the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals constitutes a milestone around which various public and private initiatives have been launched. This book presents and appraises these important developments as part of its comprehensive analysis of the origin and scope of the various areas of international law as they apply to fresh water. It demonstrates how these areas connect and adapt to one another, forming an integrated body of international principles.
This book examines the development of international law applicable to Transboundary Aquifers (TBAs) considering the Human Right to Water and Sanitation (HRWS). The purpose is to determine how International Water Law (IWL) and the HRWS can be harmonized in the context of TBAs. This is important given rules and instruments adopted to address this topic are relatively nascent, and the field itself is still in the process of developing regulatory frameworks. Taking the application of the HRWS to shared aquifers as a case study, the work discusses whether IWL and International Human Rights Law complement each other. The response to this question requires an analysis of the development of International Groundwater Law and its challenges, the evolution of the HRWS, the nature of transboundary groundwaters, and the interplay between these two fields. The author argues that IWL agreements should contain a provision related to the HRWS to ensure the protection of this right with a stipulation included in the nonbinding instrument that tackles shared groundwaters: the Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers adopted in 2008 through the United Nations General Assembly Resolution. The book will be of interest to international lawyers, water and human right experts, geologists, and anyone interested in water and human rights issues.
Promoting Equity, Cooperation and Innovation in the Fields of Transboundary Waters and Natural Resources Management honours the memory and legacy of Dr. David J.H. Phillips, an extraordinary scientist, consultant and friend of the editors and contributors. He was a scientist of exceptional quality, dedicated to the practical study of aquatic environments, be they marine, freshwater or virtual. This volume contains excerpts from his meticulously researched work from a wide range of settings globally. Colleagues' essays provide insights to a man who lived life to the utmost, worked to the highest professional standards and had a unique gift in challenging situations to generate understanding and practical responses through his curiosity, remarkable ingenuity, and sheer hard work. His work opens many new paths of research and continues to inspire scientists and researchers in the fields of marine biology and pollution, fresh water issues, and conflict over transboundary water resources.
In Data Innovations for Transboundary Freshwater Resources Management: Are Obligations Related to Information Exchange Still Needed?, Christina Leb discusses how technology innovations disrupt the conventional methods of data and information exchange and the potential impact this may have on international water law. Cross-border data and information exchange is one of the most challenging issues for transboundary water management. Only a small number of treaties include direct obligations related to mutual data and information exchange. Technological innovations related to real-time data availability, space technology and earth observation have led to an increase in quality and availability of hydrological, meteorological and geo-spatial data. These innovations open new avenues for access to water related data and transform data and information exchange globally. This monograph is an exploratory assessment of the potential impacts of these disruptive technologies on data and information exchange obligations in international water law.
