喜马拉雅地区跨国水域水资源开发国际法问题研究

Trans-boundary Water Resource Development in Himalayas from International Law Perspective

喜马拉雅地区水资源丰富,各国都积极开发水电资源,对环境和人文可能会造成负面影响。特别涉及跨国水域时,国家之间已经开始出现利益冲突,影响到了地区和平与友好关系。国际法在跨国水域问题上发展迅速,已经形成一系列的条约、习惯和基本原则。但与其他国际环境法一样,内容模糊,法律强制力有限。本文主要探讨我国在开发水资源时,具体受到哪些国际法规则的约束,面临哪些挑战。这些挑战实际上体现了人类需求增长与自然资源枯竭之间的矛盾。国际法在此类问题的规定上的模糊缺失使国家拥有更广阔的自由度在国内法律和政策上作出相应调整来缓冲这些矛盾。对于涉及跨国水域国际法的最新发展,结合现实案例,提出建立地区性跨国水域协同管理机制,并以多边条约等方式确立地区水资源利用的基本原则,在平等共赢的基础上加强该地区国家的理解和交流。

The Himalayas is one of the largest fresh water supplies in the world and the lifeblood of the greatest concentration of population. Countries in this area have fully participated in Hydropower development that will cause negative effect on environment and culture. There exists some international conflicts concerning trans-boundary water resource and has weakened the friendly relationship between countries. Trans-boundary water law has frequently developed in the last half-century but lacks legally binding status. The deduction of fresh water supply has caused living and producing difficulty for the people who live in this area and around. This article is trying to figure out what international legal obligation China should bear when developing hydropower in the Himalayas. Moreover, the way to balance human demands and environmental protection require the development of human rights law and environmental law in both fields. The future of human beings on how to face climate change and environmental conflicts will greatly be decided by conducts of this generation. It reflects the unsatisfactory fact that the world divided into countries and controlled under each jurisdiction has to face some international issues which sovereign countries could not settle by themselves. Environmental constitutionalism and trans-boundary mechanism might be the final choice of our generation. To avoid environmental and cultural damage, countries have to actively cooperate and negotiate. Equal utilization and consultation are key elements to avoid disputes among countries to protect the environment and resources in the Himalayas.