International Arbitration, Natural Resources, and Climate Change
Publications
Mississippi v. Tennessee, Orig. 143, Amicus Curiae Brief on Behalf of the International Law Committee of The New York City Bar Association (2021)
This case presented a matter of first impression for the U.S. Supreme Court: When is a groundwater aquifer a transboundary resource, and should transboundary groundwater be subject to the doctrine of equitable apportionment?
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Draper & Draper’s brief urged the Supreme Court to consider provisions of the United Nations 1997 Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses and the United Nations International Law Commission 2006 Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers when deciding this question.
The Challenges of Resolving International Non-Navigable Water Disputes
Matthew E. Draper, ABA SEER Alternative Dispute Resolution Newsletter, Vol 12. No. 1, January 2016
A review of the enforcement mechanisms applicable to international non-navigable water disputes, including those provided in the UN Watercourses Convention, followed by a proposal for generating more widespread availability of binding dispute resolution.
Resolving Water Disputes: Compacts and the U.S. Supreme Court
Matthew E. Draper, June 11, 2015
An overview of the various methods by which transborder water disputes are resolved between states in the United States -- including through litigation, Congressional acts, and interstate compacts -- presented to the American Bar Association's Section on the Environment, Energy and Resources' Alternative Dispute Resolution and Water committees.
New UN Watercourses Convention Enters Into Force: Treaty Provides Inter-State Arbitration and Private Rights of Action for Transboundary Water Disputes
Matthew E. Draper, August 18, 2014
An analysis of the first global treaty to govern transboundary water use and establish mechanisms for resolving international water disputes. Notably, the Watercourses Convention creates a right for companies and individuals to enjoy equal access to foreign States’ courts and administrative proceedings to redress transboundary water pollution, diversion, and other water-related harms.
Secondary Damages in Interstate Water Compact Litigation
David B. Willis, Joel R. Hamilton, M. Henry Robison, Normal K. Whittlesey and John B. Draper - Natural Resources Journal, Vol. 48, No. 3 (2008)
This paper addresses both the meaning and measurement of secondary damages in the context of a recent U.S. Supreme Court case where one state successfully sought secondary damages resulting from a failure to deliver water under an interstate water Compact.