Right to Water as a Human Right: A Critical Overview of International Instruments

Article type: Other

Authors: Nehaluddin, Ahmad^{a; *} | Lilienthal, Gary^b

Affiliations: [a] Professor of Law, Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University, Brunei Darussalam | [b] Professor of Law, Carrington Rand, Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author. E-mail: ahmadnehal@yahoo.com.

Abstract: The worldwide water crisis has become alarming in recent years due to factors including climate change, population growth and concomitantly increasing demands for water. This has made the world water situation challenging. In a large number of countries, water supplies are not adequate to satisfy even the minimum needs of the people. While international regulation of water has traditionally operated from the perspective of the State, recent human rights instruments have shifted the debate. There is no universal treaty containing an explicit human right to water. Despite this lack, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted resolutions expressly recognising the human right to water, which has also been incorporated into the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this context, the aim of this paper is to examine the present status of the right to water in international law.

Keywords: Access to water, human rights, international law, right to water, SDGs, sustainable development goals

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-200232

Journal: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 50, no. 4-5, pp. 299-308, 2020