The Workshop on the legal basis for transboundary cooperation was held in Kiev on 22-24 November 2004. It brought together more than 40 decisions makers, water managers, scientists and representatives of international organizations and NGOs from the EECCA region and its bordering countries (see list of participants).
The Workshop was organized by the UNECE secretariat in cooperation with the Ukrainian Ministry for Environmental Protection and the State Water Management Committee of Ukraine, the UNDP/GEF Dnipro Basin Environment Programme, and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Swedish EPA also funded the Workshop.
The workshop focused on legal aspects of importance in transboundary water cooperation and management. International conventions, river basin agreements, statutes for river basin commissions, the results of international programmes on transboundary water cooperation and management were discussed. The workshop participants reported on the application of the Water Convention principles in their national framework and in the bilateral and multilateral agreements entered into by their countries (see agenda).
Participants examined the needs and opportunities in the further development of the legal framework for transboundary water cooperation in the EECCA region with regard to i) the ratification of the Water Convention and its Protocols; ii) the development and review of sub-regional bilateral and multilateral agreements and their implementation; iii) specific issues such as floods, transboundary groundwaters, etc.
The workshop outcome and recommendations will be presented in a paper to be published in 2005.
Documents and Presentations
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Agenda |
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| List of participants | ||
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Background paper on the legal basis for transboundary water cooperation, Sergei Vinogradov, Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee |
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UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes |
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Protocol on Water and Health |
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Protocol on Civil Liability and Compensation for Damage Caused by the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents on Transboundary Waters |
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UN Convention on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses |
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Regulation of the uses of international watercourses, Lucius Caflisch, World Bank Technical Paper 414 |
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The UN Convention on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses: prospects and pitfalls, Stephen McCaffrey, World Bank Technical Paper 414 |
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UNECE Strategies for protecting the environment with respect to international watercourses: the Helsinki and Espoo Conventions, Branko Bosnjakovic, World Bank Technical Paper 414 |
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The Kiev Protocol on Civil Liability and Compensation for Damage Caused by the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents on Transboundary Waters, Phani Dascalopoulou-Livada and Alexandros Kolliopoulos, Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
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Danube River Protection Convention |
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Draft Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the Republic of Latvia on cooperation in the field of use and protection of water resources in the Zapadnaya Dvina/Daugava River Basin |
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1992 Agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on transboundary waters |
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1992 Agreement between Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation on transboundary waters |
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Opening statement, Mr. Rainer Enderlein, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe |
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Transboundary Water Programme of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Ms. Stina Lundberg, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency |
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Introduction to international law of water resources, Mr. Sergei Vinogradov, University of Dundee |
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Development of cooperation in the Dnipro river basin under the UNDP/GEF programme, Lubomir Markevych, UNDP/GEF Dnipro Basin Environment Programme |
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Transboundary water cooperation in Ukraine, Mr. Mikola Babich, State Committee of Ukraine for Water Management |
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Transboundary cooperation and sustainable management of the Dniestr River, Ms. Annica Carlsson, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe |
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Dnipro and Dniester cooperation, Ilya Trombitsky, NGO ECO-TIRAS |
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The 1997 UN Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses, Mr. Sergei Vinogradov, University of Dundee |
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The UNECE Water Convention and its application in EECCA countries, Ms. Francesca Bernardini, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe |
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The latest development in the Water Convention's regime, including the protocols on Water and Health and Civil Liability, Mr. Rainer Enderlein, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe |
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Transboundary Groundwaters: Legal Aspects of Internationally Shared Aquifer Resources Management, Mr. Rainer Enderlein, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe |
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International cooperation in water management and pollution control in the Danube River Basin, Mr. Karoly Futaki, Secretariat of the International Convention for the Protection of the Danube River |
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Legal Framework for Cooperation in the River Basin Daugava/Zapadnaya Dvina, Ms. Dzidra Hadonina, Ministry of the Environment of the Republic of Latvia |
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Approaches to integrated water resources management in the Aral Sea basin, Mr. Yusup Rysbekov, Interstate Coordination Water Commission |
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Next stop St Petersburg: Introduction to the next Workshop on Access to and exchange of information, and public participation, Ms. Natalia Alexeeva, NGO Center for Transboundary Cooperation |
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