Edith Brown Weiss is Francis Cabell Brown Professor of International Law at Georgetown University, Washington DC.Laurence Boisson de Chazournes is Head of the Department of Public International Law and International Organisation in the Faculty of Law at the University of Geneva.Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder is a Managing Attorney at the Geneva Office of the Centre for International Environmental Law.

• List of Tables and Figures ; List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ; Introduction ; PART 1 TRADE OF FRESH WATER: GEOPOLITICS, LAW, AND ECONOMICS ; 1. Cooperation or Confrontation: Sustainable Water Use in an International Context ; 2. Water Transfers: A Means to Achieve Sustainable Water Use ; 3. Water Transfers and International Trade Law ; PART 2 WATER SERVICES, THE GATS AND RELATED ISSUES ; 4. The Human Right to Water ; 5. Water Services at the WTO ; 6. GATS and its Impact on Private Sector Participation in Water Services ; 7. Economics of Water Services and the Right to Water ; PART 3 WATER SUBSIDIES AND AGRICULTURE ; 8. Ground Water Regulation and Water Crisis Rhetoric: Syria as a Case Study ; 9. Water, Agriculture and Subsidies in the International Trading System ; PART 4 WATER AND INVESTMENT ; 10. Water-Related Investment: A European Perspective ; 11. International Investment Rules and Water: Learning from the NAFTA Experience ; 12. Water Concession and Protection of Foreign Investments Under International Law ; 13. Local Communities and Water Investments ; PART 5 RESOLUTION OF WATER DISPUTES, WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ECONOMIC ISSUES ; 14. Water and Economics: Trends in Dispute Settlement Procedures and Practice ; 15. Transparency, Public Participation and Amicus Curiae in Water Disputes ; Appendix A: General Comment No 15, The right to water (Articles 11 and 12 of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) ; Appendix B: The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1947, as amended (extracts) ; Appendix C: The General Agreement on Trade in Services (extracts) ; Appendix D: 1993 Statement by the Governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States ; Appendix E: International Joint Commission, Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes: Final Report to the Governments of Canada and the United States, February 22, 2000 (extracts) ; Appendix F: Chapter 11 of NAFTA (extracts) ; Appendix G: Bibliography ; Appendix H: Selected Websites ; Index

A superb analysis of water as an issue in international trade. This carefully-edited volume examines a central, yet little studied, emerging topic in international economic law--the law of fresh water trade. Every important facet is given attention by well-researched essays written by a leading or soon to be better-known scholars. No other book even begins to cover this ground. All of the studies are relevant for thinking through the complex implications of World Trade Organization rules for transborder commerce in water. The book gives due attention to the rules for goods, services, and subsidies, and also explores trends in bilateral and regional trade agreements. As controversies about water become more important over the coming years, this volume is sure to remain the essential first reference for regulators and scholars.