Access to safe drinking water is a human right. It is indispensable to a healthy, dignified and productive life. However, a significant proportion of the global population is not able to enjoy this human right. The purpose of this in-depth analysis is to consider the impacts of large-scale agricultural activity and industry on the progressive realisation of the human right to drinking water. In particular, it considers how the European Union and the European Parliament can better support non-EU countries to realise this human right. States and businesses have obligations and responsibilities towards citizens to ensure safe drinking water. However, fulfilling these obligations and responsibilities is in contention with competing water uses and economic considerations and marred by poor enabling environments and power dynamics. Achieving the human right to drinking water needs to be considered in the context of trade-offs emerging from the water-food-energy nexus where water use in one sector can have impacts on others. Virtual water embedded in the trade of agricultural goods demonstrates that demand for food can affect local water availability, posing challenges to ensuring the human right to drinking water in these places. Existing good practices focus on better recognition of obligations and responsibilities through a human rights-based approach, improved assessments of impacts, enhanced stakeholder engagement and mechanisms for due diligence. There are opportunities for the EU to extend the discussion on the human right to drinking water with other interlinked rights, noting the complex and integrated impacts of water resources.
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© European Union, 2021 - EP