The Research Handbook on International Water Law surveys the field of the law of shared freshwater resources. In some thirty chapters, it covers subjects ranging from the general principles operative in the field and international groundwater law to the human right to water and whether international water law is prepared to cope with climate disruption. The authors are internationally recognized experts in the field, most with years of experience. The Research Handbook is edited by three scholars and practitioners whose publications and work deal with the law of international watercourses.

Recent decades have seen pivotal changes in the management and protection of water resources, with human rights, environmental and water law each developing a strong interest in the conservation of fresh water. This surge in interest has meant that dispute settlement mechanisms, along with diplomatic tools, are becoming increasingly necessary for conflict resolution. This Handbook offers an analysis of the interaction between law and various forms of knowledge and expertise, ranging from economics to environmental and social sciences. Leading scholars examine general and specific water legal regimes and analyse the interplay between various disciplines in order to establish the extent to which law is informed by each.

Research Handbook on International Law and Natural Resources provides a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the role of international law in regulating the exploration and exploitation of natural resources. It illuminates interactions and tensions between international environmental law, human rights law and international economic law. It also discusses the relevance of soft law, international dispute settlement, as well as of various unilateral, bilateral, regional and transnational initiatives in the governance of natural resources. While the Handbook is accessible to those approaching the subject for the first time, it identifies pressing areas for further investigation that will be of interest to advanced researchers.

Water plays a key role in addressing the most pressing global challenges of our time, including climate change adaptation, food and energy security, environmental sustainability and the promotion of peace and stability. This comprehensive handbook explores the pivotal place of law and policy in efforts to ensure that water enables positive responses to these challenges and provides a basis for sound governance. The book reveals that significant progress has been made in recent decades to strengthen the governance of water resource management at different scales, including helping to address international and sub-national conflicts over transboundary water resources. It demonstrates that ‘effective’ laws and policies are fundamental drivers for the safe, equitable and sustainable utilization of water. However, it is also shown that what might constitute an effective law or policy related to water resources management is still hotly debated. As such, the handbook provides an important and definitive reference text for all studying water governance and management.

The world’s freshwater supplies are increasingly threatened by rapidly increasing demand and the impacts of global climate change, but current approaches to transboundary water management are unsustainable and may threaten future global stability and international security. The absence of law in attempts to address this issue highlights the necessity for further understanding from the legal perspective. This book provides a fresh conceptualisation of water security, developing an operational methodology for identifying the four core elements of water security which must be addressed by international law: availability; access; adaptability; and ambit. The analysis of the legal framework of transboundary freshwater management based on this contemporary understanding of water security reveals the challenges and shortcomings of the current legal regime. In order to address these shortcomings, the present mindset of prevailing rigidity and state-centrism is challenged by examining how international legal instruments could be crafted to advance a more flexible and common approach towards transboundary water interaction. The concept of considering water security as a matter of ‘regional common concern’ is introduced to help international law play a more prominent role in addressing the challenges of global water insecurity. Ways for implementing such an approach are proposed and analysed by looking at international hydropolitics in Himalayan Asia. The book analyses transboundary water interaction as a ‘case study’ for advancing public international law in order to fulfil its responsibility of promoting international peace and security.

Selected Writings is a collection of articles and studies which reflect different stages of the author's experience as a scholar and a provider of technical legal assistance in the field of water law and administration, both national and international. Its purpose is to provide, mostly through practical examples, an insight into the manner in which studies and research on various topics relevant to water law and administration may be conducted and water management issues are to be considered from the legal and institutional viewpoint. The book also highlights possible legal solutions to water management problems, thereby showing the important role that the lawyer may be called upon to play in this connection. This book complements with practical experience the previous major work of the author, 'Principles of Water Law and Administration - National and International', which is a basic textbook for reference. Selected Writings will be very useful to students wishing to specialize in water law, scholars and future water resources managers and planners.

This thoroughly updated and revised second edition of this foundational Handbook combines practical and theoretical analyses to cover a wide array of cutting edge issues in international environmental law (IEL). It provides a comprehensive view of the complexity of IEL, both as a field in its own right, and as part of the wider system of international law.