Arrojo: ‘Climate change adaptation policies must come to the fore and be led by the water transition’.
On the occasion of World Water Day, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation AECID interviewed the UN Rapporteur on the human right to water and sanitation, Pedro Arrojo Agudo. Two key points emerge from his speech: water must be understood as a common good, and water transition is the axis around which climate change adaptation policies must pivot.
Since 1 November 2020, Professor Pedro Arrojo Agudo, an expert in water economics, has been the head of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. From there, he continues to delve into the issues on which he has been working and researching for more than two decades. In his extensive curriculum, he has been Professor of Economic Analysis at the University of Zaragoza, winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize, promoter of the New Water Culture Foundation, author of more than 100 scientific articles, and has published numerous books on the vital liquid. On 25 February, he gave a lecture on democratic water governance during the presentation of the Spanish Platform for Cooperation in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (PECASH), the network of actors in the sector, which took place at AECID’s headquarters in Madrid.
Question: Democratic governance of water is an aspect that is at the centre of your work as rapporteur and of your next report, but what exactly does it mean?
Pedro Arrojo Agudo: The global water crisis is evident in the data provided by the World Health Organisation, which speaks of 2 billion people without access to guaranteed drinking water, although recently a Swiss organisation has increased the figure to 4 billion people and its statistics seem to be reliable. When we hear this, we think in terms of scarcity. There is a lack of water. But no, no, not at all. The vast majority of these people are not thirsty people without water. They are brutally impoverished people living next to polluted water sources.
«It’s not about water scarcity. It’s about brutally impoverished, impoverished people living next to polluted rivers.»
There are two big challenges: making peace with our rivers and our aquatic ecosystems if we really want to make progress so that these millions of people can have clean water. The second major challenge is the democratic governance of water. To understand water not as a commodity, but as a common good, accessible to all, not to be appropriated by anyone. When we understand it in this way, the priority and the human rights approach become clear. This leads us to see that although it is legitimate to use water for different purposes – irrigation, an oil company, or to produce electricity – this is not the priority. The priority is to sustain life, biodiversity and human dignity.
For example, Spain, in implementing the Water Framework Directive, has recognised the human right to water and has set the vital minimum at 100 litres per person per day, and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Spain. However, this is less than 5% of the water we take from rivers and aquifers for various uses. If we give it priority, there can be no shortage, even in times of drought. No river dries up because we take 5%.
«It is legitimate to use water for different purposes, but the priority must be to sustain life, biodiversity and human dignity.»
We are at a critical moment because of the effects of climate change, and in this context you talk about the importance of a real water transition. What does this proposal consist of?
Climate change is not the cause of the global water crisis on the planet, but it is an accelerator that is deepening the crisis. It has taken too long to discuss our responsibilities, but there seems to be a consensus that the main cause is greenhouse gas emissions. Based on this consensus, it is easy to agree that policies and strategies to mitigate climate change must be driven by energy transition. However, the discourse that the main impacts are related to the water vector (floods, rising seas, etc.) and that if we want to develop adaptation strategies from a human rights approach to take care of those who live in situations of greater vulnerability, these policies must be driven by the water transition (…) A water transition towards this new water culture that implies democratic governance and sustainability of ecosystems. And I want to insist on this because I believe that it is time to pay attention to adaptation policies at a more advanced level.
It is the most vulnerable people who have the greatest difficulty in adapting. How can we make progress in this area?
Recently, as rapporteur, I opened a debate on democratic water governance with some powerful international institutions that are pushing for an intelligent, careful approach to understanding water, ultimately as a business space (…) This leads me to say that we need to reflect on what water is for us, what water and sanitation services are. Is it simply a productive input, like wood or oil, or is it much more (…)?
I argue that the water available in each territory should be considered a common good, and that the aquatic ecosystems that supply us should be considered a common natural heritage. What does this mean? It means that, above all, we must give priority to the principles of sustainability and equity. The market is not useful for this (…) And that is why the participation of the communities involved, who depend on this river, on the water available in their environment, is fundamental. It should not be managed by the market, because then the poor do not have human rights. It is essential to articulate governance that is participatory, transparent, accountable and open to broad and effective citizen participation.
There are specific ways of doing this in each context. It is fundamental in rural communities, for indigenous peoples, in areas where there is generally no access to drinking water at home. And who is responsible for this? Girls and women who walk for miles, who carry enormous loads, who take risks in the transport. And they take care of it, but then they are marginalised in the decision-making process. In the face of this, a human rights approach implies justice and gender equality. Not only for indigenous peoples, but in all areas. States also need to be active in promoting women’s equal participation.
What is the specific case of indigenous peoples?
When it comes to indigenous peoples, I always think of the States. Because the United Nations has signed, with international agreement, a charter on the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples. This charter recognises the right of these peoples to enjoy sovereignty over their territories, over the aquatic ecosystems on which their lives depend, over their culture, even over their ancestral rites, which have a lot to do with their way of life. And their values. And so, in this sense, the rights of indigenous peoples must be respected and their aquatic ecosystems must not be affected, at least not without adequate and informed prior consultation, as established by the United Nations, before making any intervention that could provoke rejection.
«We won’t have drinking water if we don’t clean up our waste.»
We tend to focus on water and forget about sanitation and hygiene. How can we make progress in these two areas?
Yes, it is an issue even in the budgets. The funding for water and sanitation is very uneven. Politically, sanitation does not sell as well as water. The picture is not the same. But we won’t have clean water if we don’t clean up our waste. If we don’t stop polluting, what’s downstream will be the source of supply for communities. So we have to put the human right to sanitation at the forefront.
Next year, one of the two annual reports will be specifically on the human right to sanitation, including hygiene and menstrual hygiene, which is often marginalised. And you know this very well here, because Spain and Germany are leading the way on issues related to menstrual management, as they did with the resolution on the human right to water and sanitation (HRSW) and with the mandate of the Rapporteurship itself. However, when the issue of menstrual hygiene has been discussed in international forums, there have been countries that have left the table, outraged by talk of this ‘immorality’. And we are talking about 50% of the population. And it is not just that. In many schools, in rural communities, I come across toilets where there are no separate toilets for boys and girls. Girls have to go and hide in the bushes, but when menstruation comes, they stop going to school. It is not just the DHAS that is at risk, but the right to education. So next year we will insist on a specific report on menstrual health.
In fact, in 2010, Spain promoted the recognition of the right to water and sanitation, and has now implemented the vital minimum of 100 litres of water per inhabitant, and is the origin of the Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation, which has been working in Latin America and the Caribbean for more than 15 years. What can you tell us about this?
I don’t know the Water Facility in depth, but I admire you from a distance. From time to time I have been lucky enough to see the work being done. From what I know, although it is little, I must say that it is excellent. And if I didn’t, I would say so. I have an indelible memory of a visit to Senegal when ONGAWA took me to see some of the projects supported by AECID. They were in a northern area where the men were more interested in water, the pump, solar energy… while the women were silent. But then we were able to attend a meeting of the ‘tontines’, this fund they have set up for ‘women’s things’. And sanitation depended on women. They were the ones who were interested in having a toilet at home, because they were the ones who had to go away, to hide… and with the money from everyone, they organised themselves to install the toilets in each of the houses.
I would say that we should draw attention to the Sanitation Directive. I am not aware that it includes the human right to sanitation. And it would be very important because it is the little sister.
«The key is recognition, listening and partnership with rights-holders.»
Finally, you gave a keynote speech at the launch of the Spanish Platform for Cooperation on Water and Sanitation. What is your opinion on this platform?
I think this platform can be very useful and important. When I am asked about how to accelerate the pace of achieving SDG 6, and there is talk about involving alliances, public-private partnerships, etc. I always say: -Look, the main key to moving forward in the recognition of human rights is to do an exercise of recognition, listening and alliances with rights-holders, those people who, as human rights-holders, see them being violated. In general, with women at the forefront. They are the driving force for change in the countries and in each territory: the organisations, the NGOs, the communities, etc. For all these reasons, this large network that is being promoted can be very important.
