The emergence of an 'ecosystem approach' to the protection of international watercourses under international law

Traditionally, customary and conventional rules relating to the utilization of shared natural resources have been based firmly on the notion of State sovereignty, and have therefore focused on the protection of territorial interests. Generally, environmental considerations have only had legal significance to the extent that they coincide with such territorial interests. In other words, environmental harm would only be legally prohibited to the extent that it involved a violation of territorial integrity. This has been particularly true in the case of shared freshwater resources, where 'the focus of the equitable use principle is on the balancing of different use interests in the resource and not on the protection of ecological interests' and where 'rights and obligations under the equitable use rule also remain anchored in the territorial sovereignty of riparian States over the shared resource'. It is possible to discern, from the recent practice of States and international organizations in relation to shared water resources, a shift in emphasis from a purely territorial and resource-utilization focus, to a more ecosystem-oriented approach.