Upreti, Trilochan, International Watercourses Law and Its Application ...

288 / International Watercourses Law and Its Application in South Asia Conclusions and Recummendations / 289forever, only if their interests were accommodated in such agrandiose enterprise.6.5 Implications and Future ResearchIn this section, I will consider the implications of this study forfuture scholarship in two areas, poverty reduction and the MDG.Efforts of the international community were initiated in 1972 inStockholm, further strengthened in Rio de Janeiro through theEarth Summit in 1992, and WSSD, signifying the importanceof freshwater not as a separate issue but as an integrated part ofthe whole environment, and the commitment of the world toit. 38The issue of water is explicitly related to the human rights ofpeople, without which life cannot be imagined. 39 These rightsare safeguarded by the provisions of Article 10 of the 1997UNCIW, stating that priority will be provided for “vital humanneeds.” 40 Moreover, the development of renewable energy forreducing global warming is on the agenda for the internationalcommunity. 41 MDG’s and the recent WSSD have set a target ofhalving the number of people presently deprived of potablewater, proper sanitation and clean energy from two billion toone billon by the year 2015. In context of the statement that38 D. Harrison, “America bows to summit demand on sanitation for theworld’s poor” The Daily Telegraph, 3 p. 4, September 2002. The UK’sEnvironment Secretary Margaret Beckett is quoted as saying that theWSSD has been largely successful and illustrated the significance of‘multilaterism’.39 S. McCaffrey, “A Human Right to Water: Domestic and InternationalImplications” (1992) 5 GIELR, pp. 1-23.40 UNCIW, 36 ILM (1997), p. 722.41 J. Vidal & P. Brown, “Meeting was sell out” The Guardian, 4September 2002, pp. 1-3, 2002. It is massive blow for the renewableenergy plan. Main achievements were setting the target of halving thenumber without basic sanitation and drinking water by 2015, and alsohalving the 1.2 billion who live on less than $1 a day.hydropower as a source of clean energy will be encouraged,unfortunately, no timetable is provided. 42 As maintained byGerhard Schroder, the German Chancellor, global warming isno longer a matter for scepticism, it has become a reality. Hefurther argues that there can be no global security without anagenda for global equity and that developing countries requirethe co-operation of developed nations to carry out ambitiousenergy projects. 43To eliminate poverty in the least developed and geographicallyhandicapped nations, the international community shouldchange existing policies and programmes so as to providespecial treatment and concessions on investment, trade,environmental obligations and financial assistance. Poverty hasbeen identified as a cause of civil war and terrorism, and is ageneral hindrance to world peace and prosperity. For example,in Nepal the seven year Maoist insurgency has led to the deathsof over 9,000 people and the loss of billions of rupees worth ofproperty. 44 Thabo Mbaki, the South African President, hasrightly suggested at the (WSSD) in Johannesburg) that until thegap between the haves and have-nots is filled, the fuelling ofglobal terrorism will continue. 45 World poverty including thatof south Asia must be eradicated by utilising these immensewater resources. In this effort, the rich states must favour theweaker states in order to eradicate the hardship of poverty,pursuant to the notion of equity. In the context of India and42 P. Brown & J. Vidal, “Summiteers plant their flags in the foot hills.” p.13, The Guardian, 4 September 2002.43 P. Brown, “The US must play its part” p. 18, The Guardian August 30,2002.44 On human rights implications of Nepal see “Human Rights andSecurity” (14 February 2000) at www.amnesty.org.45 P. Brown & J. Vidal, ‘End seas of poverty’, The Guardian, 27 August2002, p. 3. John Pronk, Envoy of UN Secretary General to the WSSDis quoted as saying that the poverty of developing countries should beaddressed by the help of developed states.