Edith Brown Weiss. International Law for a Water-Scarce World * Laurence Boisson De Chazournes. Fresh Water in International Law * Pierre Thielborger. The Right(s) to Water. The Multi-Level Governance of a Unique Human Right (original) (raw)

- The position of individuals in relation to the right of access to water in International and European law

THE POSITION OF THE INDIVIDUAL IN MODERN LEGAL SYSTEMS, 2019

Human rights debates have attempted to establish water as an independent right to ensure maximum benefits and enforcement mechanisms for individuals. Although the approval of a large number of soft-law instruments attesting the importance of the right of access to water, it is not clearly established whether it has reached the status of a freestanding right under general international law. Indeed, the absence of an explicit reference to the right to water is a common feature of both universal human rights treaties and regional conventions, such as the European and the American Conventions on Human Rights and the African Charter. This study explores the legal framework for treating the right to water as an effective fundamental right by exploring the relevant conventions and international jurisprudence. It broaches the issue by looking at two different bodies of international law, namely International water law and International human rights law.

Protection of the Human Right to Water Under International Law:The Need for a New Legal Framework

The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. An adequate amount of safe water is necessary to prevent death from dehydration, to reduce the risk of water-related disease and to provide for consumption, cooking, personal and domestic hygienic requirements. Indeed, the right to water clearly falls within the category of guarantees essential for securing an adequate standard of living, particularly since it is one of the most fundamental conditions for survival. Thus, the human right to life doesn't have any sense without the right to water and other vital human rights that are a precondition for human life. Consequently, the enjoyment of the human right to water is a prerequisite for the enjoyment of other basic human rights such as the right to the highest attainable standard of health and the rights to adequate housing and adequate food etc. Nevertheless, today in this era of quasi irreversible clime changes as well as very extensive increase use of natural fresh water resources, their quantity and quality is significantly decreased. From this perspective, the future of the entire mankind depends mostly in the preservation of world natural water resources. However their preservation requires from mankind a new world approach that would include inter alia the following steps: the adoption of a new international treaty on world environmental protection, the establishment of the World Water Authority under UN that would deal with issues such as the protection, management and use of international waters, ICJ shall be empowered with biding jurisdiction to exanimate interstate disputes over international watercourses, a new international treaty on Artic shall be adapted at least to address environmental concerns, and finally International Humanitarian Law shall address other environmental protection issues raised by enormous development of weapons destruction power including avoidance of loopholes that allow derogations from these treaties obligations. Certainly, any failure to do so, will undoubtedly lead mankind to future massive wars that shall be mostly fought for water rather than for oil.

Introduction to the Research Handbook on International Water Law

Research Handbook on International Water Law, 2019

Water is an essential and unevenly distributed resource. Although the amount of water on earth has not changed significantly in billions of years, pressures exerted on this essential resource have increased exponentially. With the rapid expansion of the global population and the increasing demands of industry and agriculture, the global competition for water has increased as has its relative scarcity per capita. There are more than 270 international watercourses in the world, with more than 2.8 billion people (roughly 41 per cent of the world’s population) living within transboundary river basins that cover more than 40 per cent of the earth’s total land area.1 The number of transboundary aquifers that have been mapped so far and the people living in the respective recharge areas is even higher. Regional tensions over shared watercourses are likely to increase as the global per-capita share of water decreases, leading countries toward either greater cooperation or greater conflict. ...

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

WIREs Water, 2020

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 K E Y W O R D S human right to water, infrastructure, privatization, rights of nature, water culture

The right to water as a fundamental right

World Journal of Environmental Research

Water is a Human Right of first necessity. We verified that water resources have been used at a rate higher than their replacement capacity, causing problems of water scarcity. This study aims to draw attention of the world community to the need to implement measures to a real social responsibility and cooperative. A review of the literature and an analysis of the various international legal instruments on water resources will be carried out to highlight the absence of social and cooperative responsibility and the need to create sanctions. It is observed that states and international organisations have failed to develop measures to curb their misuse and to overcome the shortage of water in some regions. We believe that the current situation can only be improved through the implementation of policies in terms of social responsibility and cooperative and the companies or the organisations in general. Keywords: Environment, management, water, water shortage.

The United Nations Concept of Water as a Human Right: A New Paradigm for Old Problems?

2005

Water history reveals millennia-old struggles over the ownership of water, the pollution and depletion of water sources, and conflicting water uses. What is new is the scale of these problems, particularly access to water for the poorest of the poor. This paper discusses the various conceptual responses to the water problématique, including the commodity, public and social approaches. The human rights aspects of the latter are analysed in some detail in light of the recent General Comment on the Right to Water by a United Nations body. The paper argues that countries have international legal obligations, to respect, protect and fulfil this right without discrimination, that carry clear implications for policy and practice. While the report does not argue that this human right requires the complete decommodification of water or that it provides a 'magic bullet' solution, it seeks to show the benefits of a human rights approach and provides some suggestions for implementing the right at the local, national and international levels.