I was surprised to learn that the Declaration of Human Rights passed by the United Nations said nothing about access to water. On July 26, that right was affirmed unanimously (here is the document) declaring ” the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” I hadn’t realized “approximately 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water and that more than 2.6 billion do not have access to basic sanitation, and alarmed that approximately 1.5 million children under 5 years of age die and 443 million school days are lost each year as a result of water- and sanitation-related diseases.” That is a lot of people.
I know experts are telling us that the looming crisis bigger than energy is water. Global climate change in the Himalayas threatens the sources of water that flow into India as glaciers melt and disappear. Corporations are trying to buy water rights and utility companies to turn limited water supplies into a source of profit . Fossil water pumped out of deep aquifers to irrigate crops are being depleted.
The guiding idea for this century must be moving from an exploitative civilization to a sustainable world civilization that intelligently manages the worlds resources. We are rapidly moving to a time when resource wars are even possible as stateless terrorism undermines developed (and very vulnerable) societies. We are going to have to learn to share those resources equitably or I see endless war in our future. Better to do it using instruments like the United Nations that defines what is right and just.