Prior notification of planned measures: A response to the no-harm dilemma?

Susanne Schmeier ()
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Susanne Schmeier: IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 2020, vol. 20, issue 4, No 7, 683-698

Abstract: 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 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1007/s10784-020-09505-4

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