Water Scarcity and Human Rightsстатья из журнала
Аннотация: According to the World Health Organization, in 2014 there were more than 750 million people without adequate access to drinking water and more than 2.5 billion lacked proper sanitation conditions.In many countries, including Brazil, the disparities in water and sanitation services are among the main battlefronts when projecting a fairer and more sustainable society, according to 2015 UNESCO data.It is one of the central objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (2016Goals ( -2030)).These challenges adopt new extents in areas which already have naturally low water availability, such as many African and some Middle--eastern and Asian countries.The equity principle therefore promises a world with greater water security for all.We live among increasing unsustainability in water consumption, and this relationship is marked by two aspects: on one side there has been a rise in climatic disasters (droughts, floods), and on the other, pollution of water sources turns supply more and more expensive.This pollution is consequence of the expansion of the economy and of production practices that drive countries' development, aside from natural resources exploitation and the obstinacy for fossil fuel expansion, such as the fracking case for gas extraction.Today, more than a billion people-i.e. one in seven inhabitants-lack adequate access to drinking water.Over 40% of the world population will live, in the short term, in regions which are being increasingly affected by hydric stress.Hydrologists forecast that, should this trend continue, freshwater will withstand a double pressure: population growth, enhanced by intense consumption habits that will increase the demand for food and energy, and the impact of climate change.Approximately 80% of the world suffers severe threats regarding hydric security, according to IPCC indicators, concerning water availability, demand, and pollution.It should be noted that a significant part of the world population lacks proper sanitation and 1/5 of aquatic systems that keep ecosystems functioning and feed a rising population is threatened, drying out or becoming too polluted to take advantage of.The fact is, agriculture water losses stopped being the most visible effect of droughts affecting many countries and regions.The energy crisis and the threat of water scarcity in great metropolis escalate and have become a reality.It is also important to emphasize that the impacts of the deterioration of ecosystems (caused by an urbanizing process without due sanitation actions taken, and subsequently under-implementation of actions promoting proper access to drinking water and basic sanitation) is reflected on a global water crisis.Hence, as Pedro Arrojo Agudo (one of the creators of New Water Culture Foundation -Fundación Nueva Cultura del Agua) notes, the deepest crisis is that of continental
Год издания: 2016
Издательство: Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Ambiente e Sociedade (ANPPAS)
Источник: Ambiente & sociedade
Ключевые слова: Water Governance and Infrastructure
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