Instruments of international law in the sphere of transboundary water protection

Abstract

In the system of ecological safety, problems in the field of transboundary water protection hold a special place. More than 500 international conflicts have taken place in the world over the past half-century concerning transboundary water resources. The problems of use of transboundary water resources were a source of disagreements in attempts of uncoordinated construction of water objects, transfer of pollution. At the same time, according to the UN, more than 3,600 agreements have been concluded in the history of mankind, most of them related to navigation, borders, fishing, and since the middle of the XIX century more than 400 agreements have been concluded regulating the use of water as a natural resource. The article considers the instruments of international law in the sphere of protection of internal waters and transboundary rivers. The law concerning internal waters belongs to the oldest part of the international ecological law. The first rules containing elements of a regulation of problems of the environment have arisen already in the XVIII century and generally concerned use and protection of the transboundary navigable rivers. In article it is shown the dynamic development of international law concerning transboundary waters in Europe, attention is paid to the basic documents regulating water relations in the sphere of protection of transboundary rivers and also the role of the international organizations as tools of the international ecological law in the sphere of protection of transboundary
waters is considered.
Key words: internal waters, protection, transboundary waters, convention, principle, pollution,
commission, river basin.