An introduction to the human right to water: Law, politics, and beyond

Abstract

In spite of its official recognition by the United Nations in 2010, the human right to water remains a contested notion as illustrated by three main debates: (a) the definition of its scope, content, and indicators to monitor its implementation; (b) the conceptual appropriateness and effectiveness of the human rights approach in countering water services privatization; (c) the call for decolonizing or decentering the western, liberal, individualistic, and anthropocentric approach of the human right to water. The article introduces the main themes and insights within these debates and concludes by pointing at potential future research at their intersection, in relation to (a) other species' rights, (b) culture and religion, and (c) technology and infrastructure. This article is categorized under: Human Water > Rights to Water Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness Human Water > Water Governance

Legal geographies of water

“…In parallel to discussions about the spatiality of water rights, geographers and other scholars have engaged with the human “right to water” and the resulting legal and institutional frameworks used to apply this international campaign (Bakker, 2007; Wilder et al, 2020). In 2010, the United Nations recognized the “right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of the right to life and all human acts,” however, debate remains as to the practical scope of a human right to water and its functional effectiveness as a political and legal instrument (Fantini, 2020). The right to access this vital resource is often asserted through struggles over law and governance (Berry, 2013).…”

Polycentric and resilient perspectives for governing the commons: Strategic and law and economics insights for sustainable development

“…When dealing with commons, the law is not necessarily enforced and governance is often ineffective (Fantini 2020 ). That is why conjoint political, economic, and legal analyses are of foremost utility—and law and economics applications can assist this need.…”

Critically assembling water quality ethics beyond thresholds, hierarchies and best practices

“…The HRW was formally recognised by the UN in 2010. It was previously seen as taken-for-granted and therefore not necessary to state, but mounting pressure from advocacy groups led to explicit recognition of the right to allow people to be able to make claims on their governments when the right is not being realised (Fantini, 2020).…”

“…In discourses on the HRW, water for human consumption is described as essential to the realisation of many other rights, in part because the HRW is intimately connected to a variety of dimensions of water and well-being including, most prominently, the right to sanitation, but also rights to religious expression, self-determination, dignity, food, indigenous rights to land and traditional practices, economic and productive needs and more (Fantini, 2020). This multiplicity and complexity 'challenges the consensus around a universal definition and common understanding on the HRW' (Fantini, 2020: 2), including with regards to how much water and what kind are necessary to consider the HRW to have been achieved. While to some extent the United Nations has agreed on the normative content of the HRW, not all member countries have formally agreed to the 2010 Declaration on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation (General Assembly Resolution 64/292); 44 countries abstained from the vote (Fantini, 2020).…”