U.N.: Water Is Not a Human Right

Photo: Marlon Felippe / Wikimedia Commons

related articles

The United Nations Human Rights Council decided against declaring water as a basic human right, and instead voted for the universal bureaucratic stall tactic: more study.

Never mind that it's hard to think of a study that would reveal that the human body doesn't actually need clean water to survive. Or one that would find billions (yes with a "b") don't live in water-stressed regions where access to clean water is a major health, environmental and political issue. Several children die every minute around the world because of dirty water, according to U.N. estimates.

According to the Toronto Star, Canada played a pivotal role in the watering down of the resolution, which would have set up an international watchdog for water. The U.S., which doesn't have a seat on the Human Rights Council, apparently supported Canada's position.

The discussion of clean water as a human right could strike a blow to companies that buy, ship and sell water, as well as to industries that compete for, or pollute, the same water people use for drinking. Increasingly, experts are warning that access to dwindling water supplies, in part due to climate change, population growth and competition from industry, will be a source of political tension and human strife in the years and decades to come.

COMMENTS ()