Center for Law & Development Research
http://hdl.handle.net/10576/5396
2024-03-28T23:37:49ZIs the ecosystem approach effective in transboundary water systems: Central Asia as a case study?
http://hdl.handle.net/10576/50174
Is the ecosystem approach effective in transboundary water systems: Central Asia as a case study?
Xie, Lei; Ibrahim, Imad Antoine
In the context of international environmental law and International Water Law (IWL), the Ecosystem Approach (EA) has become a source of heated debate. In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the negative impacts that human activities have on freshwater ecosystems. Accordingly, the protection of such ecosystems has been identified as integral to ensuring the good governance of water resources. This article reviews key areas of research around the conceptualization and application of EA. First, we adopt a holistic approach to the concept of EA when applied to existing environmental challenges, before exploring the issues that arise when applying EA to water-based ecosystems. Next, we assess the effectiveness of implementing EA in the management of environmental issues linked to transboundary water contexts. Our findings indicate that International Environmental Law, which applies a sector-specific approach, poses challenges for the instrumental implementation of EA because the latter requires a holistic approach to resource management. Furthermore, in transboundary water contexts the competing needs of river-basin countries are also identified as key factors complicating the implementation of EA. The article concludes with recommendations for policy makers and scholars. This article is categorized under: Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness Engineering Water > Planning Water Human Water (WBAA) > Water Governance.
2021-01-01T00:00:00ZBig Data Analytics and Its Impact on Basin Water Agreements and International Water Law: A Study of the Ramotswa Aquifer
http://hdl.handle.net/10576/27469
Big Data Analytics and Its Impact on Basin Water Agreements and International Water Law: A Study of the Ramotswa Aquifer
Ibrahim, Imad; Truby, Jon; Brown, Rafael
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, for example, in the context of selected basins, including the Ramotswa aquifer shared between South Africa and Botswana. However, international water law and transboundary water agreements have yet to address its emergence. This monograph examines the impact of big data analytics on transboundary water governance from a legal perspective, using the Ramotswa aquifer as a case study. The authors argue that several features of the California Open and Transparent Water Data Act of 2016 and the New Mexico Water Data Act of 2019 can be applied in the context of transboundary water agreements.
2022-02-01T00:00:00ZDraft legal framework for shared water resources in the Arab World: is it really needed?
http://hdl.handle.net/10576/25666
Draft legal framework for shared water resources in the Arab World: is it really needed?
Ibrahim, Imad Antoine
Attempts to establish a regional water convention covering shared water resources in the Arab world have been ongoing for more than a decade. During this time, a Draft Arab Water Convention has been proposed, and the content of this has been subject to a debate that did not gain much attention at the international level. This article seeks to examine this topic to determine whether such an instrument is really needed in the Arab world. The article highlights the advantages and disadvantages of establishing such a convention, on the basis of which specific recommendations are made.
2021-01-01T00:00:00ZMaritime Emissions Taxation: An Alternative to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme?
http://hdl.handle.net/10576/25583
Maritime Emissions Taxation: An Alternative to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme?
Truby, Jon
The advent of the eighteenth session of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Conference of the Parties (COP18)1 internationalized a new sense
of urgency2 towards preventing the planet from spiraling towards
an unsustainable rise in global temperatures, with an emphasis
that states must simply do more than fulfill their existing
obligations.3 Prior to the summit, the European Union (EU)
raised the issue of maritime greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, where an absence of any binding international agreement meant
that the shipping industry was not privy to the same emissions
reduction imperatives4 as other sectors.5
Having previously bound itself to reducing emissions,6 the
EU proposed including GHG emissions from the maritime
transportation sector in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU
ETS),7 but also raised alternative options for internal measures
including the imposition of an emissions tax.8 Such action from
the EU could have far-reaching implications for the rest of the
world,9 potentially instigating other states to take any number of
possible actions.10 These actions may include objecting to such a scheme, seeking instead to capitalize by attracting new shipping
registrations through carbon leakage;11 seeking an international
agreement to avoid unilateral action by one legislature; or taking
similar measures themselves rather than risk losing important
revenues.12
Focusing on the EU’s alternative proposal of an emissions
tax, this article analyzes the possibility for the imposition by an
EU Member State of a targeted environmental tax to reduce
maritime emissions. It considers how such a tax can be imposed
in a manner that will not be detrimental to commercial interests
and can instigate the desired impact.13 Importantly, it focuses
upon providing a greater incentive for the maritime industry to
invest in the most efficient shipping fleet to reduce emissions. It
concludes by comparing whether such a perceived maritime
emissions tax could be more advantageous than including
maritime emissions in the EU ETS.
2014-03-01T00:00:00Z