Principles of international environmental protection - Introduction to International Environmental Law - page 104

The principle of no-harm applies somewhat differently to international inland
watercourses such as rivers, lakes and groundwater within the territories of
multiple states. Interestingly, the rules already agreed in 1966 by the International
Law Association (ILA) in Helsinki became more widely adopted in customary
law between states. This was not due to the status of the ILA but simply because
the principles adopted refl ected the current practice so well that they could be
said to record the existing customary international law. The Helsinki Rules
require that states make decisions based on considerations of equity and consider
the rights and benefi ts of both states if disputes arise from the use of a river.
Gradually, questions began to emerge about the procedure in cases where
considerable environmental harm is caused from the territory of one riparian
state to the territory of another. The UN International Law Commission
published a draft of legal principles applied to inland watercourses in 1994.
These draft articles were fi nally adopted as a convention in 1997; 18 they are
based on the right of every riparian state to reasonably exploit and use a river.
They also establish a separate procedure in cases where considerable trans-
boundary environmental damage is likely. In such cases, one possible way of
settling a dispute is the payment of damages. The objective of the convention
is to promote management in accordance with the ecosystem approach.
It is not easy to say whether this UN convention refl ects customary law, and
if so to what extent - particularly because it is not yet in force. It seems to
have at least sustained the view that transboundary environmental damage is
central to consideration of what constitutes reasonable use of a river or an
inland watercourse. The UN Economic Commission for Europe's 1992
Helsinki Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary
Watercourses and International Lakes 19 has great regional importance. Under
this Convention, general principles are drafted for the management of inland
waters and parties are encouraged to establish regional cooperation bodies.
Nuclear power and transportation of hazardous substances
The no-harm principle is best applied in situations where a country of origin
is able to ensure that there will be no transboundary environmental impact or
that it will be minimal. Nuclear power plant disasters, however, can cause
signifi cant damage to the environment and people of other countries, even if
the country of origin has been extremely diligent. In the case of a nuclear
power plant disaster, the country of origin will rarely have violated the
no-harm principle of international law (in other words, it has exercised a high
standard of care) although it nevertheless has caused signifi cant environmental
damage to the environments of other countries.
The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in the former Ukrainian
Soviet Socialist Republic (part of the former USSR) was a rude awakening for
the international community. It was not the fi rst nuclear power plant disaster
but it was so catastrophic that many countries considered taking legal action
against the USSR. In this case, there was a strong likelihood that the USSR
had violated the no-harm principle (with its requirement to act diligently)