Water security and peace: a synthesis of studies ... - unesdoc - Unesco

4.2.6. Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary
Context (Espoo Convention)
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) has already proven to be a very important
instrument for implementing and strengthening sustainable development. It combines
the precautionary principle with the principle of preventing environmental damage,
and arranges for public participation. EIA has become the major tool for an integrated
approach in the UNECE region for the protection of the environment, since it requires
a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of an activity on the environment,
contrary to the traditional sector approach. Moreover, it looks into alternatives to the
proposed activity, and brings facts and information on environmental impacts to the
attention of the decision makers and the public. The EIA Convention was adopted at
Espoo (Finland) on February 25 1991. It was signed by twenty-nine countries, and by
July 2000 ratified by thirty countries including the EU.
This convention is the first multilateral treaty to specify the procedural rights and
duties of Parties with regard to transboundary impacts of proposed activities and to
provide procedures, in a transboundary context, for the consideration of
environmental impacts in decision-making procedures. The EIA Convention stipulates
the obligations of parties to assess the environmental impacts at an early stage of
planning. The EIA Convention prescribes measures and procedures to prevent, control
or reduce any significant adverse effect on the environment, particularly any
transboundary effect, likely to be caused by a proposed activity or any major change
to an existing activity.
4.3. International Water Law
4.3.1. What is It?
International water law (also known as international watercourse law, or international
law of water resources) is a term used to identify those legal rules that regulate the
use of water resources shared by two or more countries. The primary role of
international water law is to determine a state’s entitlement to the benefits of the
watercourse (substantive rules) and to establish certain requirements for states’
behavior while developing the resource (procedural rules).
The development of international water law is inseparable from the development
of international law in general. Such fundamental principles and basic concepts as the
sovereign equality of states, non-interference into matters of exclusive national
jurisdiction, responsibility for the breach of a state’s international obligations, and
peaceful settlement of international disputes apply equally in the area governed by
international water law.
At the same time, this relatively independent “branch” of international law has
developed its own principles and norms specifically tailored to regulate states’ conduct
in a rather distinct field: the utilization of transboundary water resources. The basic
rules are: the right to use waters of the transboundary watercourse located in the
territory of the state (“equitable and reasonable utilization”) and a correlative duty to
ensure similar rights are enjoyed by co-basin states.
International water law and international water-related cooperation are
undergoing changes in a very dynamic way with the introduction and/or adaptation of
various water-related agreements: global, regional, basin-related, and bilateral. These
are not just the result of legal and professional expertise in the field, but are
determined by the outcomes of negotiations, which form the tool and the forum for
reconciling the interests of various sectors, disciplines, and countries. The mere fact of
negotiations taking place means that the risk of an escalating conflict is limited.
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