Prior notification of planned measures: A response to the no-harm dilemma?
- PDF / 782,068 Bytes
- 16 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 30 Downloads / 177 Views
Prior notification of planned measures: A response to the no‑harm dilemma? Susanne Schmeier1 Accepted: 10 July 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The principle of no significant harm has become a cornerstone of international environmental and specifically international water law. Its implementation does, however, regularly lead to disagreements and conflicts between riparian states to shared watercourses as interpretations as to what constitutes significant transboundary harm and whether a certain water resources infrastructure project can move ahead in spite of proven, potential or perceived impacts vary considerably among different states. Some of these conflicts have had severe repercussions on riparian states’ relations and cooperation and stability in the respective region. The procedural principle of prior notification can provide a way out of the no-harm dilemma as it allows riparian states to engage in a structured exchange over a certain project and its impacts that helps mitigate or even prevent potential conflicts. Prior notification is thus not only a principle of international water law, but can also be an instrument of water diplomacy. This article analyzes current state practice in the implementation of the principle of prior notification in different basins around the world. It highlights that while a number of challenges remain with regards to the detailed interpretation and implementation of notification procedures, the overall contribution of notification mechanisms to containing disagreements over planned measures in a structured and cooperative manner cannot be overestimated. Keywords International water law · Principle of prior notification · International river basins · River basin organizations · Water diplomacy Abbreviations CARU Comisión Administradora del Río Uruguay/Administrative Commission of the Uruguay River CICOS Commission Internationale du Bassi Congo-Oubangui-Sangha EGAT Electrity Generating Authority of Thailand EIA Environmental Impact Assessment GERD Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam ILC International Law Commission JC MRC Joint Committee * Susanne Schmeier s.schmeier@un‑ihe.org 1
IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands
13
Vol.:(0123456789)
S. Schmeier
MRC Mekong River Commission PCA Permanent Court of Arbitration PNPCA MRC Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement RBO River Basin Organization SADC Southern African Development Community UN United Nations UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe ZAMCOM Zambezi Watercourse Commission ZAM-TEC ZAMCOM Technical Committee
1 Introduction The principle of no significant harm has become a cornerstone of international environmental law and international water law in particular (Dellapenna and Gupta 2008; Wegerich and Olsson 2010; Zeitoun 2015; Fitzmaurice 2017; Tanzi 2020). It is reflected in global legal and soft law instruments—such as the 1997 UN Convention on the NonNavigational Uses of Transboundary Watercourses (Art 11–19) or the 2004 Berlin
Data Loading...
