The principle of no significant harm in the Central Asian context

Dinara Ziganshina () and Barbara Janusz-Pawletta ()
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Dinara Ziganshina: Scientific Information Centre of Interstate Commission for Water Coordination in Central Asia
Barbara Janusz-Pawletta: Kazakh-German University

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 2020, vol. 20, issue 4, No 9, 713-730

Abstract: 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 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1007/s10784-020-09509-0

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