The Benefits of Positivism: The ILC’s Contribution to the Peaceful Sharing of Transboundary Groundwater

Abstract

The first part of this paper briefly discusses the relationship between environmental law and international security, the notion of shared resources as a potential cause for international conflicts and international law applicable to the management of shared groundwater resources (II.). As a second step two core questions relating to the ILC Draft Law on Transboundary Aquifers2 and peace through law are elaborated upon (III.): Why legal regulation? Why the legal regulation the ILC has adopted? Furthermore, this paper goes on to examine two topics excluded from the ILC’s draft: water resources which are “not-shared” between States and dispute settlement (IV.). Finally, some conclusions on the effectiveness of a framework for peace concerning transboundary aquifers are drawn (V.).

The author is grateful to Clemens Feinäugle and Sarah Wolf for their assistance with providing relevant materials and to Helmut Aust and Prof. Dr. Alexander Proelß for their valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper.