Is Water a Right for Every Person?

Date = January 30, 2014
Tags <ESM102>

Is clean water a right?

stress on human population - goes from desease, economy, food, energy and predicts that after 2000 it will be water will be the most severe stress

Access to water is a right in South Africa, recent (January 2014) riots over delivery

Different points of view:

Wetzel 2001 (limnologist) - clean water is not a "right", it is rather our "responsibility" to look after the environment to maintain clean water

Amartya Sen :

• deprivation in human capabilities defines poverty
• such as a lack of access to water and services
• freedom from these deprivations is the value that should be counted
• link

Apply environmental accouting approach:

• What categories of water are we talking about?
• What are the quantites and qualities of these types of water?
• What information do we need to make a decision?

What environmental accounting (or any other scientific study) can't tell us

• What is the value of these types of water, quality and quantity.
• But - we can talk about these values scientifically.

 

 

References and other links

Sen