The Governance Regime of the Mekong River Basin - Can the Global Water Conventions Strengthen the 1995 Mekong Agreement?

Entry into force of the UN Watercourses Convention in August 2014, and the opening of the UNECE Water Convention to all states in March 2016, are significant milestones in international water law. A comparative analysis of these two global water conven- tions and the 1995 Mekong Agreement shows that all three instruments are generally compatible. Nonetheless, the international legal principles and processes set forth in the two conventions can render the Mekong Agreement more up to date, robust and practical. Strengthening the Agreement would be timely, given the increasing pres- sures associated with the rapid hydropower development within the basin and the gradually emerging disputes therein. Because of these fast-moving developments, the monograph strongly recommends that the Mekong states seriously consider joining both conventions in order to buttress and clarify key provisions of the 1995 Mekong Agreement.