The principle of no significant harm in the Central Asian context
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The principle of no significant harm in the Central Asian context Dinara Ziganshina1,2 · Barbara Janusz‑Pawletta3 Accepted: 10 July 2020 / Published online: 31 October 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract This paper focuses on the no significant harm principle as applied to shared waters in Central Asia (CA): the Aral Sea basin shared by Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; the Irtysh basin shared by China, Kazakhstan and Russia; and the Chu-Talas basin shared by Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. These transboundary basins are under increased pressure from growing population and economies, unsustainable development and the impact of climate change, making it essential to cooperate and enhance legal regulation. The paper seeks to contribute to a better understating of the nature of legal principles applied to transboundary waters in CA by analyzing whether and how transboundary harm is addressed in relevant treaties in the selected river basins. The paper finds that in most regional treaties the no-harm principle is phrased as a due diligence obligation, without defining a transboundary harm and specifying its threshold and potential activities that might cause it. In addition to improving the quality of regional agreements and enhancing procedural cooperation, the participation of countries in MEAs can offer a supportive legal framework to specify no-harm related obligations. Keywords Central Asia · International water law · No-harm principle · Transboundary impact Abbreviations BWO Basin Water Organization CA Central Asia CIS Commonwealth of Independent States EIA Environmental impact assessment ICWC Interstate Commission for Water Coordination in Central Asia IFAS International Fund for saving the Aral Sea * Dinara Ziganshina [email protected] Barbara Janusz‑Pawletta janusz‑[email protected] 1
Scientific Information Centre of Interstate Commission for Water Coordination in Central Asia, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
2
Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
3
Kazakh-German University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
13
Vol.:(0123456789)
714
D. Ziganshina, B. Janusz‑Pawletta
MEA Multilateral Environmental Agreement UN United Nations Organization UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
1 Introduction Central Asia (CA), as defined by UNESCO, includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Water resources in CA are predominantly of a transboundary nature. The largest transboundary river basins shared by CA countries and in some cases with other riparian countries include the Amudarya (Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), the Syrdarya (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), Chu and Talas (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan), the Ob (China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia), including its first-order tributary the Irtysh (China, Kazakhstan and Russia) and second-order tributaries such as
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