5.3 Beyond the River Basin: Institutions of Transboundary Water …
51
above, does not have a regional intergovernmental transboundary water cooperation body. Nor does Latin America, despite repeated efforts to create comprehensive
Inter-American water cooperation mechanisms since the 1930s. While the various
integration bodies of the region—such as the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), Community of Andean States (CAN) or the Union of South-American
Nations (UNASUR)—are, to a limited extent, also concerned with the sustainable
use of natural resources, none of them have developed any substantive regional
institutional arrangement to address issues of transboundary water governance (Del
Castillo Laborde 2015).
Similarly, the Asian continent has no formalised regional transboundary water
cooperation body. Nevertheless, there are important sub-regional bodies concerned
with cross-border water management. The most notable example is Central Asia’s
complex framework for transboundary water cooperation, whose key institutional
platform is the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination of Central Asia established in 1992. Since 1999 the relevant states also participate in the work of the
International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (see Sect. 4.2.3). While both bodies have
had partial successes at technical level, none of them have been able to bridge the
fundamental political differences surrounding divergent water uses (UNECE 2011).
References
Baumgartner T, Pahl-Wostl C (2013) UN-water and its role in global water governance. Ecol Soc
18:9–19
Boisson de Chazournes L (2013) Fresh water in international law. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Del Castillo Laborde L (2015) The UNECE water convention from a Latin American perspective.
In: Tanzi A et al (eds) The UNECE convention on the protection and use of transboundary
watercourses and international lakes—Its contribution to international water cooperation. Leiden,
Boston, Brill Nijhoff, pp 435–450
ILC (International Law Commission) (1991) Sixth report on the law of the non-navigational uses
of international watercourses, UN Doc A/CN. 4/436
McCaffrey S (2016) UN watercourses convention—Implementation and relationship to the UNECE
water convention. Environ Policy Law 46(1):35–39
Merrey D (2009) African models for transnational river basin organisations in Africa: an unexplored
dimension. Water Altern 2(2):183–204
Neir A, Klise G, Campana M (2009) The concept of vulnerability as applied to North America.
In: UNEP (eds) Hydropolitical vulnerability and resilience along international waters—North
America. Nairobi, pp 17–22
Newton J (2014) “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink”: an exploration of the lack of a
formal global water governance regime. Ph.D. thesis, Medford, Tufts University, Fletcher School
of Law and Diplomacy
Norman E, Cohen A, Bakker K (2015) The water convention from a North American perspective.
In: Tanzi A et al (eds) The UNECE convention on the protection and use of transboundary
watercourses and international lakes—Its contribution to international water cooperation. Leiden,
Boston, Brill Nijhoff, pp 423–434
Pahl-Wostl C (2015) Water governance in the face of global change: from understanding to transformation. Heidelberg, Springer, Berlin
51
above, does not have a regional intergovernmental transboundary water cooperation body. Nor does Latin America, despite repeated efforts to create comprehensive
Inter-American water cooperation mechanisms since the 1930s. While the various
integration bodies of the region—such as the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), Community of Andean States (CAN) or the Union of South-American
Nations (UNASUR)—are, to a limited extent, also concerned with the sustainable
use of natural resources, none of them have developed any substantive regional
institutional arrangement to address issues of transboundary water governance (Del
Castillo Laborde 2015).
Similarly, the Asian continent has no formalised regional transboundary water
cooperation body. Nevertheless, there are important sub-regional bodies concerned
with cross-border water management. The most notable example is Central Asia’s
complex framework for transboundary water cooperation, whose key institutional
platform is the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination of Central Asia established in 1992. Since 1999 the relevant states also participate in the work of the
International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (see Sect. 4.2.3). While both bodies have
had partial successes at technical level, none of them have been able to bridge the
fundamental political differences surrounding divergent water uses (UNECE 2011).
References
Baumgartner T, Pahl-Wostl C (2013) UN-water and its role in global water governance. Ecol Soc
18:9–19
Boisson de Chazournes L (2013) Fresh water in international law. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Del Castillo Laborde L (2015) The UNECE water convention from a Latin American perspective.
In: Tanzi A et al (eds) The UNECE convention on the protection and use of transboundary
watercourses and international lakes—Its contribution to international water cooperation. Leiden,
Boston, Brill Nijhoff, pp 435–450
ILC (International Law Commission) (1991) Sixth report on the law of the non-navigational uses
of international watercourses, UN Doc A/CN. 4/436
McCaffrey S (2016) UN watercourses convention—Implementation and relationship to the UNECE
water convention. Environ Policy Law 46(1):35–39
Merrey D (2009) African models for transnational river basin organisations in Africa: an unexplored
dimension. Water Altern 2(2):183–204
Neir A, Klise G, Campana M (2009) The concept of vulnerability as applied to North America.
In: UNEP (eds) Hydropolitical vulnerability and resilience along international waters—North
America. Nairobi, pp 17–22
Newton J (2014) “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink”: an exploration of the lack of a
formal global water governance regime. Ph.D. thesis, Medford, Tufts University, Fletcher School
of Law and Diplomacy
Norman E, Cohen A, Bakker K (2015) The water convention from a North American perspective.
In: Tanzi A et al (eds) The UNECE convention on the protection and use of transboundary
watercourses and international lakes—Its contribution to international water cooperation. Leiden,
Boston, Brill Nijhoff, pp 423–434
Pahl-Wostl C (2015) Water governance in the face of global change: from understanding to transformation. Heidelberg, Springer, Berlin