Written by Ayman Okeil
The water poverty threshold is estimated at approximately 1,000 cubic metres of freshwater per person per year, according to United Nations estimates. Nevertheless, millions of people now have access to less than half of this amount, raising the prospect of conflicts over freshwater and threatening to delay progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6. Some estimates suggest that ten international conflicts could arise over the next two decades as a result of water scarcity and the control exercised by upstream countries over water resources. According to reliable data, 90 per cent of the population in Arab countries suffers from water scarcity, including 50 million people who lack access to clean drinking water
Other estimates attributed to the Arab Water Council indicate that 18 Arab countries are experiencing water poverty. What has particularly drawn my attention, however, is the current tendency of multinational corporations to seek control over water resources for commercial purposes, with the support of international institutions such as the World Bank. Can these corporations also be considered a contributing factor to the depletion of water resources? In my view, the answer is unequivocally yes.
Bottled-water companies, such as Nestlé and others, deplete groundwater supplies that are already scarce. This highly profitable business also generates large quantities of waste, further increasing pollution levels. From my perspective, this helps explain why some multinational corporations producing bottled mineral water have rejected certain provisions of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These Guiding Principles constitute the most important international instrument aimed at aligning private-sector involvement with human rights standards. The Guiding Principles state that “States must protect against human rights abuse within their territory and/or jurisdiction by third parties, including multinational corporations, through effective policies, legislation, regulations and adjudication.”
In 2018, the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights, established by the Human Rights Council, issued an initial draft of a new legally binding instrument to regulate the activities of transnational corporations. Among other things, the initial draft sets out obligations for multinational corporations, including the obligation to prevent any adverse impacts of their services and activities on human rights, including the right to clean drinking water. Although some companies, such as Nestlé and Mount Franklin Water, participated in these negotiations, they rejected certain provisions of the draft that would impose the obligations referred to above.
I therefore hope that the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Mr Pedro Arrojo should not limit his discussions to States alone. Although States naturally bear responsibility for guaranteeing the right to clean drinking water, greater dialogue should also take place with multinational corporations, and some of the Special Rapporteur’s thematic reports should be devoted to this issue. At the same time, we must use water resources more efficiently and responsibly. This is necessary not only because the amount of water available per person is declining, but also because, regrettably, the growing tendency of multinational corporations to gain control over these resources is likely to intensify water scarcity.
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