Activities of Maria NOICHL related to 2021/2187(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Access to water as a human right – the external dimension (debate)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on access to water as a human right – the external dimension
Amendments (25)
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Reaffirms that access to water is a vital imperative and a fundamental right which is recognised in the UN General Assembly’s resolution 64/292 of 28 July 2010;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Recalls the fact that in 2020, 2 billion people still lack safely managed drinking water, 3.6 billion lack safely managed sanitation and 2.3 billion lack basic hygiene;
Amendment 26 #
1 b. Recalls furthermore that in 2018, 2.3 billion people live in water-stressed countries and that 129 countries are not on track to have sustainably managed water resources by 2030, especially regions such as Western and Southern Asia and Northern Africa present very high levels of water stress at more than 70 per cent, while South Eastern Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as sub-Saharan Africa saw their water stress levels increase from 2017 to 2018;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. Recalls the fact that between 1970 and 2015, natural wetlands shrank by 35%;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1 d. Stresses the need to protect human rights defenders who fight for the access to water and who are endangered and criminalised; recalls the fact that indigenous human rights and land defenders continue to face discrimination and persecution worldwide, including forced displacements, arbitrary arrests and killings;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1 e. Calls on the EU to take bold initiatives to fight environmental crimes perpetrated with impunity at global level and to promote the recognition of ecocide as an international crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the European Union to promote a rights-based approach to access to water and sanitation in its external action in accordance with the UN-declared Water Action Decade 2018-2028, and in keeping with Sustainable Development Goal 6 on safe drinking water and sanitation to enable all countries to reach all the targets under this goal;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Recalls that regarding SDG 13 on climate action, 125 of 154 developing countries include as highest priority areas freshwater resources and terrestrial and wetland ecosystems in their national climate adaptation plans;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Reaffirms that water quality will be affected by increased water temperatures and a decrease in dissolved oxygen, leading to a reduction in the self- purification capacity of freshwater basins which increases the risks of water pollution and pathogen contamination caused by floods or higher concentrations of pollutants during periods of drought; recalls furthermore the impact on food production;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Is concerned that access to water is a geostrategic element and that wars about water might erupt which could kill millions and that fighting about water resources might also lead to an increase in migration due to food insecurity and famine, for example after droughts;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Stresses the fact that there has to be no speculation with water by multinationals or other stakeholders, especially in the global south, that access to water has no price and therefore no privatisation or trading on international stock exchanges should be allowed;
Amendment 92 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Reaffirms that access to water is connected to access to land and land ownership rights which need to be defensible in court but depend also from the place in the society of the person concerned;
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Stresses that defending, enforcing and effectively using these ownership rights requires education, especially for women, with the aim to defend access to property, also in court;
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Recalls that the role of agriculture and industry, as the EU is the largest virtual water ‘importer’ worldwide as companies in the EU have invested in close to 6 million hectares of land outside the EU, inter alia, for agriculture, biofuel and livestock production; emphasises in this context that the EU agriculture and industry has to limit themselves to the resources available in the EU and leave the use of third country resources to third countries;
Amendment 106 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Recalls the need for sustainable irrigation and sustainable production patterns, such as reducing food waste on the whole supply chain, as agriculture uses a lot of fresh water; consequently there is a need for optimising and reducing the use of fresh water in agriculture all along the production line;
Amendment 108 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Amendment 109 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7 d. Stresses the need to reduce the use of pesticides, especially for protecting the groundwater;
Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 e (new)
Paragraph 7 e (new)
7 e. Stresses the need to include water rights into trade agreements with third countries and legally binding obligations for EU companies in third countries to comply for example, with the drinking water directive also abroad;
Amendment 117 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Stresses the fact that easy access to water and sanitation is linked to the access to education, especially for girls, because on one side it’s often their task to fetch water for the family instead of going to school and on the other side they are forced to leave school if there is no access to adequate toilets;
Amendment 119 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Recalls that the lack of access to water and sanitation concerns women and girls specifically when it comes to their overall health, dignity, education, nutrition, security as well as political and economic participation which significantly hampers women’s rights in general; underlines the essential concept of WASH not only in this context;
Amendment 122 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8 c. Stresses that unequal access to water and sanitation has to end urgently, especially for children, who die because of a lack of hygiene and because of malnutrition and water-related illnesses;
Amendment 123 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 d (new)
Paragraph 8 d (new)
8 d. Stresses that access to water needs a multi-sectorial, multi-stakeholder approach, and a strong commitment to work with all partners concerned; therefore access to water and sanitation as a basic right and basic service also needs good governance;
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 e (new)
Paragraph 8 e (new)
8 e. Stresses that there is an essential lack of financing and of public investment, generally but also when it comes to creating sustainable infrastructure;
Amendment 125 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 f (new)
Paragraph 8 f (new)
8 f. Stresses the need for anticipatory actions in the field of access to water and sanitation;
Amendment 126 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 g (new)
Paragraph 8 g (new)
8 g. Recalls that there must be reliable and comparable indicators to measure the progress or regress when it comes to the access to water and sanitation;