CONFERÊNCIA | PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT:WHERE DO WE STAND IN INTERNATIONAL LAW? 13 DECEMBER 2013

Aguas de Iterei | Foto por Léa Corrêa Pinto 2013

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT:WHERE DO WE STAND IN INTERNATIONAL LAW?
13 DECEMBER 2013
Palais des Nations, Room V
Since the adoption of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and Agenda 21 in 1992, public participation has been recognized as playing a key role in the decision-making process on environmental matters and management of natural resources. A number of international framework instruments, such as the 1998 Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, have been pioneering the definition of the norms regarding public participation. The 1999 London Protocol on Water and Health to the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes has been inspired by these principles: it recognizes the vital role of public participation in the decision making process for a better management of water resources. Moreover, mechanisms developed in the context of river basin commissions show the variations of the norms and standards regulating public participation, the way these norms are adapted to specific cases and the evolution of their implementation over time.
This conference will offer an opportunity to analyse current trends and innovative thinking for the involvement of non-state actors in the management of freshwater resources. It will also provide a platform to discuss good practices to ensure public participation in decision-making for freshwater resources management and access to justice.
The working languages of the conference are English and French with simultaneous interpretation.

09:30 Welcome coffee
10:00 Welcome remarks
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Geneva and Responsible for the Platform for International Water Law
Nicholas Bonvoisin, Secretary to the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Session 1 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND ITS REGIONAL VARIANTS
Chair : Introduction of the session
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes – Professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Geneva and Responsible for the Platform for International Water Law
10:20 Public participation and the Protocol on Water and Health
Chantal Demilecamps, Environmental Affairs Officer, Secretariat to the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes and the Protocol on Water and Health, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
10:35 Public participation in the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River
Benedikt Mandl, Technical Expert, Public Participation and Communication, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River
10:50 The Guarani Aquifer Agreement and the role of non-State actors
Francesco Sindico, Reader, University of Strathclyde
11:05 Commentator: Alistair Rieu-Clarke – Reader in International Law, IHP-HELP Center for Water Law, Policy and Science, University of Dundee
11:15 DISCUSSION
Chair Introduction of the session
Makane Moïse Mbengue – Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Geneva and Member of the Platform for International Water Law
11:40 The state of the integrated water resources management process in the of the Niger Basin: the experience of the involvement of non-state actors
Robert Dessouassi, Director of the Observatory of the Niger Basin (ABN)
2
11:55 Public participation in the Senegal River Basin Development Organization (OMVS)
Komlan Sangbana, Teaching and research assistant and Member of the Platform for International Water Law, Faculty of Law, University of Geneva
12:10 The principle of public participation and the International Joint Commission between Canada and United States
Mara Tignino, Senior Researcher and Coordinator, Platform for international water law, Faculty of Law, University of Geneva
12:25 Commentator: Iulia Trombitcaia – Environmental Affairs Officer, Secretariat to the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
12:35 DISCUSSION
13:00 Lunch
Session 2 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: THE ROLE OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ACTORS
Chair Introduction of the session
Sibylle Vermont – Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication (tbc)
15:00 The interactions between international law and domestic law: the case of India
Philippe Cullet, Professor, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
15:15 Water and hydroelectricity actors in Switzerland and France: the case of the Rhone Basin
Géraldine Pflieger and Christian Bréthaut, Senior Lecturer and Researcher, Institute of Environmental Science, University of Geneva; Post-doctoral Researcher, Institute of Environmental Science, University of Geneva
15:30 Public participation in river basin joint bodies: the role of NGOs
Serhiy Vykhryst, Expert, European ECO-Forum
15:45 Commentator: Jean Benoit Charrin – Director, Waterlex, Geneva
15:55 DISCUSSION
3
Session 3 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, COMPLIANCE AND SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES
Chair Introduction of the session
Stephen McCaffrey – Distinguished Professor, McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, Member of the Implementation Committee of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
16:20 Public participation in water resources management, the Aarhus Convention and its innovative compliance mechanism
Fiona Marshall, Environmental Affairs Officer, Secretariat to the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
16:35 The Bystroe case and the Implementation Committee of the Espoo Convention on environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context
Félix Zaharia, Vice-chair, Implementation Committee, Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context
16:50 Justice by any other name? The complaint mechanisms of development banks
Vanessa Richard, Researcher, Centre for International and European Studies and Research, University of Aix-Marseille
17:05 Access to water and human rights courts
Owen McIntyre, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University College of Cork
17:20 Commentator: Yves Lador – Permanent representative of Earth Justice at the United Nations, Geneva
17:30 DISCUSSION
18:00 END OF THE SESSION 4

————

Fonte:

URL: http://www.mtnforum.org/content/conference-public-participation-and-water-resources-management-geneva-13-december-2013