UN Expert Warns Against Using Climate Crisis to Justify Water Privatisation

 

Pedro Arrojo-Agudo

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, has warned governments against turning the climate crisis into a pretext for water privatisation, saying such policies threaten both democracy and access to basic human needs.

Arrojo-Agudo made the remarks while speaking virtually at the opening of the 5th Africa Week of Action Against Water Privatisation, which began in Lagos, Nigeria. 

The event is convened by the Our Water, Our Right Africa Coalition (OWORAC), a network of civil society groups and labour unions campaigning for public control of water resources.

The UN expert, who will present his latest report on “Democratic Water Governance as a Common Good” to the UN General Assembly later this week, said the trend of using climate-related challenges to push privatisation and public-private partnerships (PPPs) must be resisted.

“The climate crisis must not become a project for water privatisation. Corporations are promoting the idea that governments lack the public funds to meet water challenges, while asking that public capital be used to shield private capital from all risks. This logic is perverse”, he said.

Arrojo-Agudo traced the roots of modern water privatisation to the 1970s, citing examples in Chile under Augusto Pinochet’s regime, Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, and later the French model that focused on outsourcing water management through PPPs.

He criticised what he described as the “financialisation” of water systems, where sophisticated technologies are used as justification for huge private investments and tariff increases. 

“These projects often lack proper justification, yet they lead to higher costs for citizens and profits for corporations,” he added.

The UN envoy questioned governments’ claims of insufficient public funds for water services while allocating massive budgets to arms and defence. “If we can afford an arms race, we can afford to guarantee human rights,” he said.

Arrojo-Agudo also drew attention to the role of women in water access and community management, saying they embody the principle of priority in human rights. “For the world’s poorest communities, water is the first priority, and it is women who bear the responsibility. Governments should learn from them and give priority to water in national budgets,” he urged.

He expressed concern about growing attempts to privatise rural community water systems in parts of Africa, warning that such moves would undermine local resilience. 

As a positive example, he cited Colombia’s new “public-community partnership” model, which recognizes and funds rural water cooperatives as part of democratic water governance.

“Democratic water governance means respecting community management and ensuring public accountability at all levels - rural or urban,” he said. “As the Italian movement once declared during its fight against water privatisation: We write water, but we read democracy.”