2021/2187(INI) Access to water as a human right - the external dimension
Next event: Vote scheduled in committee 2022/03/15
Lead committee dossier:
Next event: Vote scheduled in committee 2022/03/15
Progress: Awaiting committee decision
Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
---|---|---|---|
Lead | AFET | URBÁN CRESPO Miguel ( GUE/NGL) | OCHOJSKA Janina ( EPP), VOLLATH Bettina ( S&D), RAFAELA Samira ( Renew), SATOURI Mounir ( Verts/ALE), KANKO Assita ( ECR) |
Committee Opinion | DEVE | BIJOUX Stéphane ( Renew) | Dominique BILDE ( ID), Maria NOICHL ( S&D), Miguel URBÁN CRESPO ( GUE/NGL), Beata KEMPA ( ECR), Janina OCHOJSKA ( PPE) |
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54, RoP 57
Legal Basis:
RoP 54, RoP 57Subjects
Events
2022/03/15
Vote scheduled in committee
2021/11/08
EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2021/10/28
EP - BIJOUX Stéphane (Renew) appointed as rapporteur in DEVE
2021/10/07
EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2021/10/07
EP - Referral to associated committees announced in Parliament
2021/03/04
EP - URBÁN CRESPO Miguel (GUE/NGL) appointed as rapporteur in AFET
Activities
- Maria NOICHL
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Kostas PAPADAKIS
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Miguel URBÁN CRESPO
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Peter POLLÁK
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Juozas OLEKAS
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Beata KEMPA
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Samira RAFAELA
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Nacho SÁNCHEZ AMOR
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Mick WALLACE
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Stéphane BIJOUX
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Mounir SATOURI
Plenary Speeches (0)
- André ROUGÉ
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Bernhard ZIMNIOK
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Janina OCHOJSKA
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Katarina BARLEY
Plenary Speeches (0)
- Chris MACMANUS
Plenary Speeches (0)
Amendments | Dossier |
126 |
2021/2187(INI)
2021/12/20
DEVE
126 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph -1 (new) -1. Whereas according to the United Nations, there are about 2.2 billion people who do not have access to safe drinking water and 4.2 billion people who lack sanitation services[1]; [1] UN Water, 2021.
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph -1 i (new) -1 i. Whereas healthy ecosystems enable to improve water quantity and quality, while increasing resilience to climate change;
Amendment 100 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Calls for coordinated and coherent water management in developing countries with regard to its various uses (agriculture, energy production, industry, etc.), and calls on the European Union to provide better support to developing countries for sustainable water management, in particular by means of technical assistance in developing new technologies at an affordable cost or adapting agricultural practices and crops to drought;
Amendment 101 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Calls for coordinated and coherent water management in developing countries with regard to its various uses (agriculture, energy production, industry, etc.), and calls on the European Union to provide better support to developing countries for sustainable water management, including support with regards to developing innovative solutions for the creation, management and maintenance of water points, handwashing facilities and the promotion of healthy hygiene practices;
Amendment 102 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Calls for coordinated and coherent water management in developing countries with regard to its various uses (agriculture, energy production, industry, etc.), and calls on the European Union to provide better support to developing countries for sustainable water management particularly support to agricultural sector for sustainable irrigation systems and investments in wastewater management, reservoirs, wetland restoration and in water storage systems;
Amendment 103 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Calls for coordinated and coherent water management in developing countries with regard to its various uses (agriculture, energy production, industry, etc.), and calls on the European Union to provide better support to developing countries for sustainable water management, points to the need to frame implementation plans at multiple levels for water source protection and to reconcile water usage with the application of emerging technologies for conservation, reduction of water pollution and recycling wastewater, in order to improve the way water is provided, treated and disposed;
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion 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 105 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7 a. Notes that agriculture uses about 70% of the world's fresh water; calls on the Commission to prioritize, in the framework of the bilateral dialogue with the governments of partner countries, the development of sustainable agricultural techniques that ensure efficient use of water and to provide the necessary funding to make this possible;
Amendment 106 #
Draft opinion 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 107 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 b (new) 7 b. Urgent attention should be given to ensuring that the push for economic development through exports of water- intensive food and clothing do not imperil current and future generations' access to water, especially in the context of the growing unpredictability of water in relation to climate change;
Amendment 108 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 c (new) Amendment 109 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 d (new) 7 d. Stresses the need to reduce the use of pesticides, especially for protecting the groundwater;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Reaffirms that access to
Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion 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 111 #
8.
Amendment 112 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Stresses the need to support small projects, that have direct impact on the access, allocation and storing of water; in this context, underlines the potential of private sector in water provision, and calls for the encouragement of partnership between the EU and developing countries, namely of enhanced collaboration with SMEs and locally-based businesses, which can apply valuable solutions and innovative approaches in designing, constructing or rehabilitating existing water services or in other water-related projects, including those in rural areas, and to pay particular attention to women and the most vulnerable communities as regards access to water and basic sanitation
Amendment 113 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Stresses the need to support small projects, including those in rural areas, and to pay particular attention to women
Amendment 114 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Stresses the need to support small projects, including those in rural areas, and to pay particular attention to women and the most vulnerable communities as regards access to water and sanitation, also with a view to supporting the local agricultural sector, to foster generational renewal in this sector and the food self- sufficiency of communities, and thereby to stem the rural exodus, which is a cause of uncontrolled urbanisation, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Amendment 115 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Underlines the high impact that lack of access to drinking water has on women; is extremely concerned that adolescent girls are forced to miss class for long periods, skip about a quarter of school days and in many cases drop out of school altogether because of the lack of santitation facilities at school and the responsabilities that they take for fetching water for their families; calls on the Commission to ensure the inclusion of gender perspective in the management of projects related to the right to access water and to ensure the participation of women in the decision-making process on these projects, including those women belonging to discriminated minorities;
Amendment 116 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Is deeply concerned that women and girls often face particular barriers in accessing water and sanitation and that they shoulder the main burden of collecting household water in many parts of the world, restricting their time for education; calls on the EU and international community to eradicate water and related sanitation poverty;
Amendment 117 #
Draft opinion 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 118 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Underlines that as children are particularly at risk from water-related diseases, access to improved sources of water can result in better health, and therefore better school attendance, with positive longer-term consequences for their lives;
Amendment 119 #
Draft opinion 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 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Reaffirms that access to water and sanitation is a vital imperative and a fundamental right that needs to be addressed in a context of competing water uses between agriculture, energy, extractive and other industrial activities relying on a large quantity of water resources;
Amendment 120 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 b (new) 8 b. Recalls the vital role of environmental human rights defenders regarding access to water and their exposure to threats and intimidation; calls on EU Delegations to act to ensure their protection in accordance with the principles of action set out in the EU Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders;
Amendment 121 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 c (new) 8 c. Calls on the Commission to report regularly to Parliament on the implementation of the EU human rights guidelines on safe drinking water and sanitation with tangible examples of the activities and impact.
Amendment 122 #
Draft opinion 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) 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) 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) 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) 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;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Reaffirms that access to safe, clean, accessible and affordable water is a vital imperative and a fundamental right;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Reaffirms that access to water is a vital imperative
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Reaffirms that access to water is a vital imperative and a fundamental right and that improved water supply and sanitation, and better management of water resources, can boost countries’ economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion 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 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Reaffirms that access to water is a vital imperative and a fundamental right, in the context of the 64/292 Resolution of the UN General Assembly;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Welcomes the Council's conclusions of 19 November 2021 on water diplomacy in the EU's external action and agrees with them in that 'water is a prerequisite for human survival and dignity and a fundamental basis for the resilience of both societies and the environment';
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Underlines that, according to the World Health Organization, 'by 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas; 1 a _________________ 1a https://www.afro.who.int/health- topics/water 'By 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas.'
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph -1 a (new) -1 a. Whereas it is estimated that by 2050, 25% of the world’s population will live in countries where the lack of freshwater is chronic and recurrent[1]; [1] The UN global water Conventions: Fostering sustainable development and peace, UN Water, 1 Dec. 20, p.6.
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Recalls that waterborne diseases are a constant threat to health, which entails that people not having access to clean water are regularly exposed to diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, and other diseases transmitted by contaminated water; is worried about the pressure that widespread waterborne diseases entail for fragile healthcare systems in developing countries; calls on the Commission and Member States to step up water sanitation efforts in least developed countries and increase emergency funding for WASH in healthcare facilities;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Notes with concern that while climate change will exacerbate water- related challenges, including increasing the magnitude and frequency of floods, water quality is also deteriorating due to increasing pollution, resulting i.e. from agricultural run-off and untreated industrial and municipal wastewater;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. whereas Africa’s urban population is 567 million and continues rapidly growing and the continent will have the fastest urban growth in the world; notes that the rapid urbanisation will pose serious challenges to secure access to drinking water and to food security;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Highlights the fact that by 2040, global demand for water will outstrip supply by 40%, which means the long- term implications for development, humanitarian and peacebuilding goals will be dire;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion 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 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Stresses that water must be considered a global public good, and not a commodity.
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 27 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 b (new) 1 b. Notes with concern that the EU is the largest virtual water “importer” in the world, notably through its imports of agricultural products and its biofuel policy, which impact upon local water availability[1]; [1] Sources: DROI Study entitled “The Human Right to Drinking Water: Impact of Large-Scale Agriculture and Industry” (2021).
Amendment 28 #
1 c. Highlights that some of the proposed climate response to address climate change may impact negatively on the universal right to water, as in the case of large-scale dams and the cultivation of food and feed crops used for biofuels; accordingly, highlights the importance to implement fully-fledged Human Right Impact Assessment related to the EU biofuel policy and to any agricultural and energy investment projects financed by the European Fund for Sustainable Development; in particular, calls for the inclusion, in the remit of the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive, of water provisions in the definition of the sustainability criteria on biofuel crops;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 c (new) 1 c. Recalls the fact that between 1970 and 2015, natural wetlands shrank by 35%;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph -1 b (new) -1 b. Whereas water stress in developing countries may occur in case of rainfall deficits; the presence of weak institutions around irrigation and water markets; sudden population growth resulting i.e. from forced displacement;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 d (new) 1 d. Recalls the state obligations to fulfil the human right to drinking water entails i.e. to ensuring the setting-up of participation mechanism, including the implementation of the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous People and Local Communities in relation to large-scale energy infrastructure (such as dams) and extractive industries, the systematic recognition of customary rights to drinking water and the provision of justiciable remedies (through complaint mechanism) in case of human rights violations;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion 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) 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 33 #
Draft opinion 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, particularly at the next World Water Forum, in Dakar, and the high-level international conference on water in Dushanbe in 2022 and the high- level UN conference on the Water Action Decade in New York in 2023;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Calls on the European Union to promote a sustainable and human rights- based approach to access
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Calls on the European Union to promote a rights- and technical assistance- 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;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion 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, while progress on delivering safe drinking water to all is threatened by the lack of infrastructure, financing required to deliver, by the competing demands from industry and agriculture and climate change;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion 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, which entails to anchor the water-energy- food security nexus into its development aid and water diplomacy;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion 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 39 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Stresses that water resources in coastal areas may be severely curtailed by rising sea levels as a result of climate change, as well as by diffuse pollution and refuse; calls, therefore, on the EU to conduct its water governance in a manner consistent with its waste and effluent management policies;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph -1 c (new) -1 c. Whereas water insecurity (resulting from limitations in water availability, access, use, quality and reliability) threatens food security and generates waterborne disease such as cholera or diarrheal, which is the second- leading cause of death in children under the age of five globally[1]; [1] Sources: UN Water 2019.
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Encourages the EU and its Member States to devise comprehensive, environmentally sound planning and strategic investments for developing countries to enable sustainable development of water-related infrastructure in sync with the newest technologies and innovation, which will contribute to improving efficiency across the water cycle and lead to decrease in water losses, under clear responsibilities for relevant regional, national and local authorities as a matter of good governance;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion 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 42 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Notes that the rapidly growing urban population in developing countries requires increased efforts to support sustainable waste water management and to investments in water management systems in urban areas;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Stresses the need for increased focus on sustainable, resilient water and sanitation infrastructure and communities through implementation of disaster risk reduction components;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Stresses the need to establish the new UN special envoy for water and the importance of effective coordination and coherence of the UN’s work on water;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion 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 46 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 b (new) 2 b. Underlines that the access to water is a cross cutting issue, strongly affecting security, calls for the Commission to support water diplomacy and to foster regional cooperation between partner countries for better management of water resources;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Is concerned that easy access to drinking water is severely restricted in developing countries (only one person in two enjoys such access)
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Is concerned that easy access to drinking water is severely restricted in developing countries (only one person in two enjoys such access) and extremely limited in sub-Saharan Africa (only one person in eight in rural areas), and further notes that sub-Saharan Africa's rapid urbanisation necessitates specific solutions both for access to water and sanitation services for urban populations and in order to avoid the proliferation of any resulting pathologies (waterborne pathogens);
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Is concerned that easy access to drinking water is severely restricted in developing countries (only one person in two enjoys such access) and extremely limited in sub-Saharan Africa (only one person in eight in rural areas); calls on the EU to ensure the progressive realization of the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation for all in a non- discriminatory manner while eliminating inequalities in access for vulnerable and marginalized groups;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph -1 d (new) -1 d. Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need to accelerate progress on WASH in schools;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Is concerned that easy access to drinking water is severely restricted in developing countries (only one person in two enjoys such access) and extremely limited in sub-Saharan Africa (only one person in eight in rural areas); is concerned that water stress (freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources) affects more than 2 billion people around the globe, a figure that is projected to rise;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Is concerned that easy access to drinking water is severely restricted in developing countries (only one person in two enjoys such access) and extremely limited in sub-Saharan Africa (only one person in eight in rural areas); stresses that access to water is intrinsically linked to health and education;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Stresses that 62% of sub-Saharan Africa’s urban population lives in informal settlements with limited access to water and sanitation services, that the number of people living in such conditions could triple by 2050 and that there is thus an urgent need to develop water resource management and water saving solutions for urban populations, which must go hand in hand with control of urbanisation and the birth rate, in particular by drawing inspiration from successes stories in this area, for example in Egypt, where 'investment in water saving devices is expected to reduce household water use by 10-15%' (UNEP, 2015);1 b _________________ 1b AUC/OECD (2018), Africa’s Development Dynamics 2018: Growth, Jobs and Inequalities, AUC, Addis Ababa/OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264302501-en 'Egypt’s current investment in water saving devices is expected to reduce household water use by 10-15% (UNEP, 2015).' '62% of sub-Saharan Africa’s urban population lived in informal settlements. In several countries, unplanned urbanisation could lead to tripling the population living in informal settlements by 2050.'
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3b. Is also alarmed at the excessive extraction of groundwater, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, and stresses that it is crucial to promote wastewater treatment, since '80% of the wastewater produced in developing countries in the region is untreated'; 1 c _________________ 1cUN Water, The United Nations World Water Development Report 2021, Valuing water, Published in 2021 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Notes with concern that according to the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, 2 out of 5 children without a basic drinking water service at school lived in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2019[1];emphasises the importance of providing basic water, sanitation and waste management facilities in schools for eradicating waterborne diseases and reducing the transmission of infectious diseases and protecting global health; [1] WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, “Special Focus on Covid- 19”, 2020, p. 7.
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion 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 56 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Stresses the need to reduce the social, environmental, and economic impacts of droughts and identifying pathways towards drought-resilient societies; underlines that a common understanding of the drivers of drought risk and ways in which drough timpacts materialize is crucial for the identification and planning of targeted drought risk reduction and adaptation options;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion 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 58 #
Draft opinion 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 59 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3 b. Recalls that agriculture mobilizes 70% of water resources; calls for a coordinated and coherent water management in developing countries. In view of the large-scale consumption of water for industrial purposes; considers that it is necessary to promote systems and methods of use that take account of the sustainability of aquifers and, in particular, agricultural systems that incorporate improved irrigation techniques adapted to resource-poor environments;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph -1 e (new) -1 e. Whereas the ongoing global boom of dams, linked to energy production and irrigation water provision, raises concerns in terms of access to water, including through the evaporation of water storage;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion 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 61 #
3 c. Calls on the EU and its Member States to fully integrate water into its external food security policy; insists that EU funding for agriculture must be in line with Agenda 2030, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity and prioritise investments in agroecology, whose practises can buffer rural livelihoods from climate change and increasing rainfall variability while minimising the environmental footprint;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 d (new) 3 d. Recognises the central role of healthy ecosystems in achieving water security; in particular, highlights the benefits of nature assets for water management, such as forest conservation to regulate the water supply, mangroves, wetland restoration/conservation to reduce potential flood damage, etc.; therefore, believes that the protection and restoration of water-related ecosystems should be a central pillar of water resources management, especially to mitigate and adapt to climate change;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 e (new) 3 e. Highlights the potential risks of water grabbing and water pollution associated to foreign direct investments in large-scale land acquisitions for agriculture and extractive industries; calls on the EU and its Member States to enact water-related mandatory due diligence and reporting standards for corporations;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4.
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls urgently, following the COVID-19 pandemic and given both the prevalence of certain waterborne diseases in certain developing countries in a context of rapid urbanisation and the increasing number of climate change- related natural disasters, for access to water and sanitation to be made a priority in developing countries, in particular in the least developed countries and small island developing states;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls urgently, following the COVID-19 pandemic and given the increasing number of climate change- related natural disasters, such as the ongoing famine in southern Madagascar, which may be partly linked to climate change, for access to water and sanitation to be made a priority in developing countries, in particular in the least developed countries and small island developing states;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls urgently, following the COVID-19 pandemic and given the increasing number of climate change- related natural disasters, for access to water and sanitation to be made a priority in developing countries, in particular in the least developed countries and small island developing states and in humanitarian context;
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls urgently, following the COVID-19 pandemic and given the increasing number of climate change- related natural disasters, for access to water and sanitation to be made a priority in developing countries, in particular in the least developed countries and small island developing states; in this regard, stresses the importance to mobilise financial resources and technical assistance for facilitating capacity building to meet more urgent necessities in providing essential water and sanitation services during crisis, such as tackling challenges regarding reduced availabilities of vital elements for operations, as materials for water treatment or for the rehabilitation of damaged assets of the critical water- related infrastructure;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls urgently, following the COVID-19 pandemic and given the increasing number of climate change- related natural disasters, for access to water and sanitation to be made a priority in developing countries, in particular in the least developed countries and small island developing states; calls on the European Commission to support the Resilient Water Accelerator as part of its climate adaptation programmes in developing countries; stresses the need to develop and use all necessary water risk mapping tools and early warning systems;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph -1 f (new) -1 f. Whereas the surge of energy crops, such as rapeseed, palm oil, soybean, corn, maize, etc., which are produced for biodiesel and ethanol, compete with water use linked to food crops;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Calls on developing countries, within the limits of their budgetary investment capacities, to draw inspiration from success stories in supplying water, particularly desalination techniques, which have become less expensive in recent years, and techniques involving solar energy, or wastewater treatment;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Highlights the need to link life- saving humanitarian responses to the development of sustainable water and sanitation systems for all; to this effect, calls on the EU to support the public authorities in developing countries in targeting policies to increase water connections, affordability and availability for the most socially vulnerable;
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Calls on the EU to maximise the impact of aid in the area of human development by ensuring that WASH services are integrated into all health, nutrition, education, disability, gender equality programmes and strategies, with water, sanitation and hygiene targets and indicators included;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Recalls that the Commission mobilised almost EUR 2.6 billion over the period 2014-2020 for water-related issues, and calls for steady efforts to be pursued in the context of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument that go beyond 20% of spending on human development, while ensuring that a consistent part of the 30% dedicated to fight climate change is allocated to strengthen water and sanitation infrastructures; highlights the need to tailor infrastructure investments to local and historical contexts, while investing in the protection and restoration of natural ecosystems (including forests, floodplains, wetlands, etc.), which often provide more cost-effective and sustainable water management solutions than conventional infrastructure remedies, in terms of water storage, water treatment, erosion control, moderate extreme events;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Recalls that the Commission mobilised almost EUR 2.6 billion over the period 2014-2020 for water-related issues, and calls for efforts to be pursued in the context of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument that go beyond 20% of spending on human development; stresses that reducing the impacts of water shocks must be complemented by strategies that build the long-term resilience of communities;
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Notes the utility of desalination technologies implemented in certain countries such as Morocco, a lower middle-income country, with the site planned in particular in Agadir for a maximum capacity of 450 000 cubic metres per day, and stresses that desalination and wastewater treatment technologies have great potential in improving access to water in certain regions;1 d _________________ 1dUN Water, United Nations world water development report 2021: valuing water. 'The construction of Africa’s largest desalination plant is underway in Agadir, Morocco. The plant will initially produce an average of 275,000 cubic metres of desalinated water per day, with a maximum capacity of 450,000 cubic metres per day. '
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 b (new) Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Points out that the activity of EU companies in developing countries can have an impact on the right of access to water in certain countries, especially on indigenous communities, and that this can happen even in cases where certain companies are implementing EU-funded projects; calls for the main risks that the activities of these companies may pose in relation to the right of access to water and other basic human rights to be considered in the legislative proposal on corporate due diligence; stresses the need to avoid boosting the privatisation of water and sanitation services in developing countries;
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Highlights the role of EU trade policy to achieving the fundamental human right to water; to this end, calls for the inclusion of water-related provisions in EU trade agreements as “essential elements” clauses; to harness the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapter of FTAs through the definition of binding and mandatory commitments and standards related to multilateral environmental agreements and to develop safeguards in investment and trade agreements to prevent the privatisation of water, which may jeopardise the achievement of universal access to drinking water;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion 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 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph -1 g (new) -1 g. Whereas cities across Africa are particularly facing escalating water challenges due to poor urban planning, unaffordable, unreliable and unsafe access to water and sanitation and environmental degradation and water pollution;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5 a. Notes that achieving universal safely managed water supply and sanitation would yield respectively net benefits of US$37 and US$86 billion per year between 2021 and 2040;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 b (new) 5 b. Recalls that climate variability, and its impact on water availability, affect existing patterns of migration; in particular, notes that a recent World Bank report estimates that climate change could lead up to 216 million people to become internal migrants; while the vast majority of these migrants are expected to end up in urban areas, notes with concern that most cities in developing countries are not prepared for efficient and sustainable expansion, notably regarding the provision of critical public services, such as water management and water supply; calls on the EU to step up its support to contribute to making cities in developing countries more resilient to water shocks, including through sustainable urban planning, while providing better integration of rural migrants into urban settings;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 c (new) 5 c. Stresses that Africa’s rapidly changing urban context necessitates particularly urgent action to build water resilience; highlights the deep inequalities in access to basic infrastructure which place disproportionate water-related burdens on the urban poor, while urban construction, agriculture and extractive industries often lead to pollution of surface water, exploitation of groundwater sources and forests; notes with deep concern that water security has been limited by poor governance, aging water delivery systems, depleted groundwater supplies, rising water costs and widespread chemical and microbial contamination;
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 d (new) 5 d. Calls on the EU to step up its technical and financial support to build up urban water resilience in Africa; more broadly, stresses the need to develop a holistic water and sanitation management approach, notably through the involvement of key players across sectors and industries that impact directly or indirectly the water system, such as land development and management, planning, construction, mining, roads and drainage, transport, farmers and forestry;
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Draws attention to the major geostrategic dimension of water, which can give rise to sudden conflicts between states, as is already the case with the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan, as well as internal conflicts and forced displacement
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Draws attention to the major geostrategic dimension of water and the increasing competition for limited water resources, which can give rise to sudden conflict and forced displacement; calls on the Commission to promote regional cooperation on the shared management of water resources around the 286 transboundary river basins;
Amendment 86 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Draws attention to the major geostrategic dimension of water, which can give rise to sudden conflict and forced displacement; calls for local economic development to be fostered and for coastal communities dependent on marine resources to be strengthened; further calls on the Commission to promote regional cooperation on the shared management of water resources around the 286 transboundary river basins;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Draws attention to the major geostrategic dimension of water, which can give rise to sudden conflict and forced displacement; notes with concern that in many parts of the world, cooperative arrangements for transboundary rivers, lakes and aquifers are lacking or are too weak to deal with growing water-related challenges; stresses the benefits of transboundary water cooperation to providing for equitable benefit sharing, avoiding conflicts, fostering the energy- food-water ecosystem nexus, safeguarding sustainable water management and ecosystem protection; calls on the Commission to promote regional cooperation on the shared management of water resources around the 286 transboundary river basins;
Amendment 88 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Draws attention to the major geostrategic dimension of water, which can give rise to sudden conflict and forced displacement; calls on the Commission to promote regional cooperation on the shared management of water resources around the 286 transboundary river basins, furthermore calls for the identification of policies, as well as for the development of operational programmes that practically address with long-term perspective specific problems about the respective transboundary basins, climate-change mitigation and preservation of ecosystems by adequate governance of both nature resources and the risk of watershed degradation, at domestic and transnational level, as a precondition to ensure a water secure future and to advance their water resilience agenda;
Amendment 89 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Draws attention to the major geostrategic dimension of water, which can give rise to sudden conflict and forced displacement; calls on the Commission to promote regional cooperation on the shared management of water resources around the 286 transboundary river basins and stronger governance of water systems based on an ecosystem approach, supported by data and innovation to address the consequences of water scarcity, and in particular the risk of protracted conflicts;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph -1 h (new) -1 h. Whereas deforestation and forest degradation in watersheds jeopardise water availability by altering local hydrology and reducing the interseasonal stability of water supplies;
Amendment 90 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Encourages developing countries to join and to strive for the full implementation of the two United Nations global water Conventions (UN Water Convention and the UN Watercourse Convention), as important tools to support water diplomacy, peace and conflict prevention through transboundary water cooperation;
Amendment 91 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Calls on Member States and international organisations to provide financial resources in order to help capacity-building and technology transfer to developing countries to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water, hygiene services and sanitation for all;
Amendment 92 #
Draft opinion 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 93 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Calls for effective accountability mechanisms for all water and sanitation service providers to ensure that they respect human rights and do not cause human rights violations or abuses;
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion 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 95 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 c (new) 6 c. Calls for investment in the institutions, capacities, governance structures and processes needed to sustain water and sanitation services as well as promote hygiene behaviour change on a continuous basis to ensure water, sanitation and hygiene investments are optimised and sustainable;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7.
Amendment 98 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Calls for strengthening Team Europe's commitment to human development and for coordinated and coherent water management in developing countries with regard to its various uses (agriculture, energy production, industry, etc.), and calls on the European Union to provide better support to developing countries for sustainable water management by ensuring adequate support for safely managed on-site sanitation, including faecal sludge management.;
Amendment 99 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Calls for coordinated and coherent
source: 700.643
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History
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2022-01-12Show (1) Changes | Timetravel
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2021-11-12Show (1) Changes | Timetravel
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https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/AFET-PR-699318_EN.html
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2021-11-10Show (1) Changes | Timetravel
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