Founding Affiliates

Alistair Rieu-Clarke is Affiliate of the Academy. He is a Professor of Law at Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK. He has also held positions as expert and/or member in various international organisations and associations, including the International Water Resources Association, the IUCN Commission of Environmental Law, the University Partnership on Water Cooperation and Diplomacy, and the UK Arts and Humanities Peer Review College.

Prior to joining Northumbria University, he worked at the Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science, University of Dundee, UK. Also, between 2017 and 2018, he worked at the Secretariat of the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (1992 Water Convention) on matters relating to SDG indicator 6.5.2 (transboundary water cooperation) and reporting under the Water Convention. He has taught courses on international water law at the University of Dundee, University of Strathclyde, Northumbria University and ETH Zürich, as well as delivering professional training workshops on international water law across the world – most recently delivering an annual Africa-wide International Water Law workshop in Entebbe Uganda, together with Global Water Partnership and partners. 

Alistair has over 20 years' experience in teaching, research and consultancy related to international water law. His recent publications include:

The duty to take appropriate measures to prevent significant harm and private companies: insights from transboundary hydropower projects, in International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics (2020).

Can reporting enhance transboundary water cooperation? Early insights from the Water Convention and the Sustainable Development Goals reporting exercise, in Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law, 2020.

From Treaty Practice to the UN Watercourses Convention, in Stephen McCaffrey, Christina Leb and Riley Denoon (editors), Research Handbook on International Water Law, Edward Elgar 2019.

Monitoring Water Resources Governance Progress Globally: Experiences from monitoring SDG indicator 6.5.2 on Integrated Water Resources Management Implementation, Volume 10 (2018), p. 1744.

The role of valuation and bargaining in optimizing transboundary watercourse treaty regimes, in International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Volume 18, 2018, pp. 409-428.

Bionote

Throughout his work, Alistair has focussed on research, teaching and practice-based activities aimed at raising awareness, and deepening our knowledge and understanding, of how legal frameworks support the equitable and sustainable use of transboundary rivers, lakes and aquifers. 

Alistair has been involved in a suite of multi-disciplinary research projects that have examined existing legal frameworks for transboundary waters across a range of settings, including Cambodia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, India, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Portugal and Vietnam. He has also examined the role and relevance of the global water conventions – the 1992 Water Convention and the 1997 Watercourses Convention–across a range of settings, including East Africa (Nile), Europe, West Africa and South-east Asia (Mekong). Over the course of 20 years, Alistair has published on a range of topics related to international water law, including treaty compliance and implementation, reporting, transboundary hydropower projects, notification and consultation procedures, and climate change.

Alistair's teaching experience is mainly focused on the delivery of international water law modules, which he has delivered for various institutions, including University of Dundee, University of Strathclyde, Northumbria University and ETH Zürich. He also supervises PhDs on issues related to international water law. 

Alistair has worked with many governments, civil society organisations and inter-governmental organisations on matters related to international water law. For example, over several years he has supported the Secretariat of the Water Convention with reporting under the Convention and SDG indicator 6.5.2, as well as their activities, together with WWF, in promoting both Water Conventions globally. In addition, Alistair has experience in advising governments on the drafting and negotiation of their treaty arrangements for transboundary river and lake basins, most recently with the riparians of the Drin Basin in Southeast Europe.