On July 8, 2024, South Sudan announced that its Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) unanimously ratified the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA). (See here) This development follows ratifications by five Nile Basin States — Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi— paving the way for the CFA to come into force sixty days after South Sudan deposits its ratification with the African Union, as stipulated in Article 42. (See here and here) While the impending entry into force of the CFA is a landmark development for the upstream Nile Basin States, its rejection by the downstream States— Egypt and Sudan — poses significant challenges to cooperative management of the Nile watercourse. This piece scrutinizes the ramifications of the CFA’s entry into force. It reviews the negotiation history of the CFA, critically examines its salient features, and reflects on the challenges and prospects of its implementation. The Sisyphean Negotiation Process The downstream States have rejected the CFA to maintain…
Natural Resources
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Deep seabed mining: A general policy at the International Seabed Authority?
Comprising 168 member States, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is responsible for all seabed mineral exploration and future exploitation activities on the international seabed (‘the Area’). Negotiations on the rules, regulations and procedures for exploitation activities are currently ongoing at the ISA. Before any exploitation activities can commence, UNCLOS requires its member…
Extending human rights accountability for corporate actors in the LIDHO v Cote d’Ivoire case of the African Court
In September 2023 the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACtHPR or African Court) handed down its first judgement for harm caused, including to the environment, due to the dumping of toxic waste. This commentary focuses on how this judgement expands the African jurisprudence on the question of corporate accountability for infringement of human rights.
Fukushima Nuclear Waste Water Disputes Continued: International Law in Japanese Court?
On 24th August 2023, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) started releasing the ALPS-treated waste water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean over a period of 30 years. As discussed on this blog before, here and here, the decision led to strong international responses from neighbouring States, such as China and South…
A Contentious Toll
Rivers have caused a decent share of international disputes in Latin America: Pulp Mills, Silala (analysed here), and the series of disputes between Costa Rica and Nicaragua involving the San Juan River. And that’s just the last 15 years. Argentina’s…
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