Water grabbing: the atlas of water grabbing
Environment — di Redazione
Which areas are most at risk of drought or where access to water is not guaranteed? An atlas shows us where water grabbing occurs.
Water grabbing: the atlas of water grabbing
Which areas are most at risk of drought or where access to water is not guaranteed? An atlas shows us where water grabbing occurs.
The expression water grabbing (not to be confused with land grabbing) refers to situations in which powerful actors are able to seize control of, or divert for their own benefit, precious water resources, taking them away from local communities or entire nations whose livelihoods depend on the very same resources and ecosystems that are being plundered.
The effects of this grabbing are devastating. Families driven from their villages to make way for mega-dams, privatisation of water sources, water pollution for industrial purposes that benefit the few and damage ecosystems, control of water sources by military forces to limit development.
Drinking water is a human right, a right to life
In 2010 the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution guaranteeing access to drinking water and sanitation as fundamental human rights. The landmark resolution, introduced on a motion by Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, and around thirty other countries, establishes that "safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights." Yet today this right is not being actively upheld by member states.
Nor is the United Nations convention on transboundary waters being respected — a treaty aimed at mitigating the risks of water-related conflict, signed to date by only 39 states. The United States and China remain deaf to civil society calls to support the legal document.
In the so-called global south, but also in some industrialised countries, water is transformed from a freely accessible common good into a private asset controlled by those who hold power. Driven by the growing demand for water due to population growth and the industrial expansion of developing countries, and in the grip of climate change — increasingly visible in our daily lives — water is becoming a source of conflict, a scarce resource that must be seized at a neighbour's expense, also to the detriment of women and girls who are responsible for daily water collection, losing time that could otherwise be devoted to education and work.
The special feature Watergrabbing – An Atlas of Water, produced with the support of the European Journalism Center and Gruppo Cap, in partnership with seven news outlets, tells the story of water grabbing, with each story exploring a specific theme (transboundary waters, dams, grabbing for political purposes and for economic purposes) and showing the actors involved, country by country. Photographs, texts and maps will guide you on this journey. A downloadable geographical atlas has also been produced as a reference tool for the curious reader, the student and the researcher. Take the time to read and discover the issue of water grabbing. So that water may become a right for everyone.