Activities of Miguel URBÁN CRESPO related to 2021/2187(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Access to water as a human right – the external dimension (debate)
Access to water as a human right – the external dimension (debate)
Reports (1)
REPORT on access to water as a human right – the external dimension
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on access to water as a human right – the external dimension
Amendments (41)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
— having regard to General Comment No 15 (2002) of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)
Citation 10 a (new)
— having regard to the report of 21 July 2020 by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation on privatization and the human rights to water and sanitation,
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 15
Citation 15
— having regard to the Council Conclusions of 19 November 2021 on water in the EU’s external action, those of 17 June 2019 on the EU human rights guidelines on safe drinking water and sanitation, and those of 19 November 2018 on water diplomacy,
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16
Citation 16
— having regard to the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘Right2Water’ and the Parliament report of 8 September 2015 on the follow-up to the European Citizens’ Initiative Right2Water (2014/2239(INI)),
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Stresses that water must be considered a global public good, and not a commodity.
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the denial of the human right to water has repercussions on enjoyment of the right to health; considering that contaminated water, the inadequate management of urban, industrial and agricultural wastewater and poor sanitation are linked to the transmission of serious diseases and even death; whereas about 1 000 children die every day as a result of diarrhoeal diseases associated with a lack of hygiene; whereas COVID-19 has highlighted the vital importance of sanitation, hygiene and access to drinking water to save lives; whereas it is impossible for the world to be resistant to pandemics and other infectious diseases, and to the emerging threat of antimicrobial resistance, without access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the disadvantages faced by women and girls with regard to water, sanitation and hygiene manifest themselves in multiple ways that impact on their overall health, well-being and dignity, reproductive health, education, nutrition, security, and economic and political participation; whereas in many countries of the Global South women and girls are traditionally responsible for supplying the home with water; whereas water- collecting responsibilities limit their access to education and make women and girls more vulnerable to illness and violence; whereas women and girls are more at risk of being victims of attacks, sexual and gender violence, harassment and other threats to their security when they are collecting water for the household, when they visit sanitation facilities outside their homes and when, because they do not have adequate facilities of this type, they are practising open defecation or urination;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Expresses its deep concern about the risk of water privatization in developing countries, as highlighted by the report of Léo Heller, United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation; calls the EU to support public water management in developing countries , and not to funding privatization processes, even indirectly or with PPP projects, that have already been proven to be unsuccessful, as in the cases of Tanzania and Gabon;
Amendment 55 #
Ha. whereas the use of water has increased by 1% annually since the 1980s, and whereas, as indicated in the United Nations World Water Development Report 2019, demand is expected to continue increasing at a similar rate, so that by 2050 we could be using between 20 and 30% more water than currently;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Regrets the role of international financial institutions, such as IMF and World Bank in pushing for the privatization of public services , including water, in developing countries; calls the international financial institutions and Multilateral/Bilateral Development Banks , including Europeans, to stop pushing water privatisation, commercialisation, and financialization on African and Global south states through advisory services, loans and grants, or other programs.;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Is concerned that the share of loans as part of EU funding to the water, sanitation and hygiene sector grew from 27% in 2016 to 50.5% in 2019, and two- thirds of EU funding in the sector was allocated to LMICs/LICs in 2019 and 49% for large infrastructure for water supply; stresses the importance for EU water, sanitation and hygiene ODA to be targeted to the lowest income countries and communities and to enable the strengthening of sanitation and hygiene services’ provision;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M a (new)
Recital M a (new)
Ma. whereas around 80% of global land-grabbing takes place for agricultural development and the remainder for mining activities and infrastructure, all of which has an impact on the availability and quality of water; whereas the land obtained is mainly land with access to sources of fresh water, which facilitates the production of crops with intensive water use; whereas land-grabbing deprives local communities of water sources and infringes their human right to drinking water;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas the energy sector is currently responsible for 10% of global water extraction and its water consumption is expected to rise by almost 60% by 2040; whereas large-scale dams have considerable socio-economic and environmental impacts that can affect access to drinking water and, as recognised by the Council in 2018, the construction of large dams in international rivers can contribute to tensions among riparian states and the areas most affected;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P a (new)
Recital P a (new)
Pa. whereas the significant pollution of water resources has had a serious effect on the health of local populations and has endangered plant and animal life; whereas the lives of millions of impoverished persons depend on the good status of water sources, not only for the supply of drinking water but also for the production of food through agriculture, livestock rearing and fishing;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P b (new)
Recital P b (new)
Pb. whereas workers who work in any part of the sanitation chain are one of the most vulnerable groups in society; whereas they face many risks, including health risks resulting from the toxic gases they breathe in; whereas they are often informal workers who are not protected by labour laws; whereas our enjoyment of the rights to water and sanitation should not be at the expense of the safety, dignity and well-being of sanitation workers;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R
Recital R
R. whereas the preservation of water resources is under attack and has been made a criminal offence in many countries; whereas in recent years water has become a disputed resource in many countries; environmental and water defenders have been subjected to an ever-increasing number of attacks, including killings, kidnappings, torture, gender-based violence, threats, harassment, intimidation, smear campaigns, criminalisation, judicial harassment, forced eviction and displacement; whereas various figures who have been finalists in the Sakharov Prize are being attacked for their roles in the defence of water and common goods; whereas the defenders of the waters of the Guapinol river are still in prison; whereas Lolita Chávez has been in exile for four years for her defence of the territory against the activities of hydroelectricity companies in Iximulew (Guatemala); whereas Berta Cáceres was assassinated in 2016 for her defence of the Blanco and Gualcarque rivers, and those who ordered the crime have still not been convicted;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital U a (new)
Recital U a (new)
Ua. whereas, as recognised by the EU Human Rights Guidelines on Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, these rights impose three types of obligations on states: the obligations to respect, to protect and to fulfil; whereas the obligation to respect requires states to refrain from interfering with the enjoyment of the rights to water and sanitation; whereas the obligation to protect requires states to prevent third parties (such as businesses) from interfering with the enjoyment of the rights to water and sanitation; whereas the obligation to fulfil requires states to adopt the necessary measures directed towards the full realisation of the rights to water and sanitation; whereas states are also obliged to provide water when individuals are unable to realise the rights to water and sanitation through their own efforts;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital V
Recital V
V. whereas since 67 December 2020 water has been traded on the Wall Street commodities futures market; whereas, in the words of Pedro Arrojo, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, ‘water has a set of vital values for our society that the market logic does not recognise and therefore, cannot manage adequately, let alone in a financial space so prone to speculation’; whereas the UN has warned that trading water on the Wall Street futures market is in breach of basic human rights; whereas, according to various UN experts, the application of a speculative approach to the management of goods that are essential for individuals’ lives and dignity infringes the human rights of people in situations of poverty, worsens gender inequality and increases the vulnerability of marginalised communities;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital V a (new)
Recital V a (new)
Va. whereas, according to the UNDP, the cost of water should not exceed 3% of household income, but impoverished countries are paying up to 50 times more for a litre of water than rich countries, because they have to buy water from private vendors; whereas governments have a duty to guarantee minimum essential levels of water and sanitation for all; whereas report A/76/159 by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation stresses that water must be considered as a public good as stated in General Comment No 15 (2002) of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and must be managed under an approach grounded on human rights, guaranteeing the sustainability of aquatic ecosystems;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Recalls the Council Conclusions of 19 November 2018, which recognise that the human right to safe drinking water entitles everyone, without discrimination, to have access to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use and the human right to sanitation that entitles everyone, without discrimination, to have physical and affordable access to sanitation in all spheres in life, that is safe, hygienic, secure, socially and culturally acceptable and that provides privacy and ensures dignity;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls the responsibility of states to promote and safeguard all human rights, which are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated and which must be promoted and applied in a fair, equitable and non-discriminatory manner; reiterates, therefore, that states must ensure universal access to safe drinking water in sufficient quantity and quality; recalls, moreover, that the right to water is closely linked to the right to life and is a vital element for public health;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Supports the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation and stresses the importance of his work and that of his predecessors on recognition of that right;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Calls on the delegations of the EU, as pointed out by the EU guidelines on drinking water and sanitation, to include the human right to water on the agenda of its periodic dialogues on human, sectoral and political rights, with partner countries; calls for training on the human right to water to be promoted both for staff in the areas of environment and infrastructure and for those working in human rights; calls on the Commission and the EEAS, in implementation of the guidelines, to report to the Subcommittee on Human Rights, once a year, on how they have applied the guidelines on the human rights to water and sanitation, providing specific examples of their activities and their impact, in the EU’s partner countries;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recognises the important work undertaken by environmental rights defenders, in particular those safeguarding the right to water, and roundly condemns the killings, abductions, torture, gender- based violence, threats, harassment, intimidation, smear campaigns, criminalisation, judicial harassment, forced evictions and displacements carried out by numerous perpetrators, including governments and multinational corporations; calls on the EU to undertake to pay more attention to the security and protection of rights defenders, communities and groups safeguarding the right to water, and to pay special attention and provide support to the cases of the winners and finalists of the Sakharov Prize, who are being attacked for their roles in defending water and common goods;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on states to respect the right to social protest and the right to peaceful assembly, in particular, in the context of opposition to the imposition of economic projects that compromise the enjoyment of human rights to drinking water and sanitation; in this context, calls on the EU and its Member States to take concrete action in cases of criminalisation and litigation that accompany the processes of resistance and coordination against this type of project;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Calls on the EU to include support for sanitation workers’ rights in all sanitation programmes and to support workers to organise formally through officially recognised trade unions;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls on states to avoid actions that jeopardise the rights of indigenous people, descendants of Africans and rural communities to the land, water, ecosystems and biodiversity that are the foundation of their cultures and their means of life; calls on states to give legal recognition to the titles, tenancies, rights and responsibilities of indigenous people, communities descended from Africa and rural communities to the land and water, enabling them to apply customary law, traditional ecological knowledge and their own systems of governance for the sustainable management of water, land, ecosystems and biodiversity in their territories, prevailing over commercial and speculative interests and strategies;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to check carefully that the infrastructure and energy projects financed through the various development cooperation and external policy instruments, including the European Investment Bank, uphold and neither jeopardise human rights, including the human right to water and sanitation, and the Sustainable Development Goals nor contribute to the expulsion of indigenous peoples from their lands; asks for special consideration and precautions to be taken when supporting and developing hydraulic energy projects, taking into account their impact on nature and local communities;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes with concern that the lack of access to water and adequate sanitation has a devastating effect on women's rights, making it difficult for women and girls to lead safe and healthy lives; condemns the fact that gender inequalities still exist in terms of exercising the human rights to drinking water and sanitation, in particular as a result of the specific needs of women and girls with regard to menstrual hygiene and health; calls for leadership by women to be promoted, as well as their full, effective and equal participation in planning, decision making and applying decisions on water and sanitation management; calls for guarantees to be made about the adoption of a gender-based focus in relation to the management of water resources and water and sanitation supply programmes, and for measures to be taken to reduce the time spent by women and girls in collecting household water, with the aim of addressing the adverse impact of deficient water and sanitation services on girls’ access to education; calls for women and girls to be protected from physical threats and assaults, including sexual violence, when collecting household water and when accessing sanitation facilities outside their home or practising open defecation; considers it vital to protect equal access by women and girls to water and sanitation; considers it vital to adopt positive measures to guarantee their availability and accessibility;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Recalls that, in its conclusions of 2018, the Council condemned the use of water as a weapon of war and considered that ‘in this context, destroying water infrastructures, polluting water or diverting watercourses in order to limit or prevent access to water could constitute violations of international law’;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is gravely concerned that violations of the right to water and sanitation in occupied territories aim to displace people from their lands and is worried about the denial of access to and control over water resources and infrastructure, including the denial of the ability to develop or construct such infrastructure; reiterates that in a situation of occupation fundamental human rights must be respected, and that the right to water and sanitation, including the right to maintain access to water supplies, and the right not to have water supplies interfered with, disconnected or contaminated in an arbitrary manner, must be guaranteed;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Affirms that the fundamental cause of infringements of rights to water and sanitation in occupied territories is occupation itself; calls on the occupying power to take immediate measures to guarantee access to and fair distribution of water to those living in the occupied territory and, in particular, to guarantee that those living in occupied territories have control over their water resources, including the management, extraction and distribution of water;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls on governments to introduce mandatory diligence frameworks to prevent, address and mitigate the adverse impacts on the human right to water and to adequate sanitation; emphasises that, in the context of guaranteeing the human right to water and, more specifically, the quality of water, due diligence must also imply that undertakings are obliged to take appropriate steps to effectively prevent the contamination of water; in this connection, calls for a guarantee that goods produced using practices that are detrimental to water resources and to access to drinking water and sanitation are not marketed in Europe and are not developed using European funds;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Calls for effective accountability mechanisms to be established for all providers of water and sanitation supply services, including in the private sector, with a view to ensuring that they respect human rights and do not promote infringements or abuses of these rights or contribute to their occurrence; calls on governments to guarantee that victims of infringements have access to justice and are entitled to appropriate reparation, including restitution or compensation; calls on the EU to support the capacity of independent water regulators so that they can enforce human rights rules;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Recalls that, as the EU Water Framework Directive recognises, water is not a commodity but a public good that is vital to human life and dignity; calls on the Commission to recognise the importance of the human right to water and sanitation and of water as a public good and a fundamental value, and to recognise that it is not a commodity, and, given that these are services of general interest that fall, therefore, primarily in the public interest, to permanently exclude water and sanitation and wastewater treatment from the scope of any trade agreements and to check carefully that trade agreements and the activities of European companies do not undermine, whether by action or omission, the right to drinking water and sanitation;
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls on states to adopt a policy implementing the human right to water and sanitation and promoting the provision of water and sanitation as essential publicreinforce the provision of water and sanitation as essential public services for all through investments that make it possible both to increase the number of people who access water and sanitation services and to maintain the existing infrastructure, the provision of services and their use; considers that investing in the reinforcement of capacities and the governance of water systems, as well as in their operation and maintenance, is vital in order to create robust and sustainable water and sanitation services for all;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Calls for universal coverage to be ensured of water and sanitation services and for the availability of a minimum subsistence level of water to be guaranteed and for a ban on cuts to supplies to households experiencing economic or social vulnerability;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Stresses that public provision is the most appropriate model for the exercise of the human rights to water and sanitation; urges states in this regard to engage in a transparent and robust deprivatisation process to improve the effective enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation; calls on governments to increase public investments in sustainable water-related infrastructure and to safeguard water as an essential public good; recalls that, according to UN report A/75/208, the provision of water and sanitation services by private operators is conducive to a particular set of human rights risks, grounded in a combination of three factors: profit maximisation, the natural monopoly that characterises water and sanitation provision, and power imbalances;
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Demands that civil society organisations working to address breaches of the rights to water and sanitation have adequate resources and access to relevant information and the ability to participate meaningfully in water-related decision- making processes; asserts that participation by the stakeholders is vital in realising the human right to drinking water and sanitation; calls on governments to design mechanisms for an inclusive system of water governance that involves, in a significant way, a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society organisations, trade unions, human rights defenders and researchers;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Stresses that inequalities in access to water and sanitation are often attributable to systemic inequalities or exclusion; calls on governments to guarantee the absence of discrimination in access to water and sanitation services, as a public good, ensuring the provision thereof for all, in particular by affording priority to access for marginalised groups with a view to remedying systemic discrimination; encourages the authorities to review their legislative, political and practical frameworks in the area of water, through the lens of human rights principles (non- discrimination, equality, participation, responsibility and sustainability) and standards (accessibility, quality and security, affordability, acceptability, privacy and dignity) to help guide actions in order to tackle obstacles to progress;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Calls on governments to monitor inequalities in access to water and sanitation and to compile detailed data on these issues, and to encourage investment in public sanitation and supply systems, promoting efficiency and the conservation of water, as a scarce resource, with the aim of fostering access to water for the entire population;