Water as a Human Right - Assignment Example

Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction: Water as a Human Right 2 Water as a Basic Condition for Survival 3 The Influence of Water Accessibility by People and Institutions 5 Management of the Water Resources and Ethical Implications 7 Water as a human Right: Is the view ethical? 8 Consequential Theory: Utilitarianism 9 Non-Consequential Theory 10 Moral Stance 12 Recommendations 12 Conclusion 13 References 15 Introduction: Water as a Human Right Water has progressively become a scarce resource in many parts of the world owing to the global climatic changes associated with global warming. The scarcity of the water resource and the increased water pollution rates have seen entrepreneurs across the globe realize the business potential locked up in the water resource. Commercialization of water resources has in turn triggered numerous ethical questions surrounding water access, ownership and distribution (Shah 2010). Efforts by national and international organizations to find ways of addressing the global water crisis face significant setbacks including dilemmas on the water rights, the responsibility of managing water resources and ownership and whether water should be categorized as a tradable good (Chamberlain 2008). Environmental activists have applied different moral theories to support and detest activities and decisions surrounding the usage of water resources and other natural resources. The pluralistic teleological account on what make an action a virtue, justifies the virtues of environmental activism, stewardship, sustainability, and effective communion with nature (Sandler 2009). Environmental ethicists emphasize on incorporation human-independent ends in all ethical decisions surrounding the environment. According to Traer (2010), Access to water and air form fundamental human rights hence the need for ethical decision makers on the use of water and air to focus on providing access of clean water and air to all people. Following the growing problem in accessibility of safe water in different parts of the world, different international organizations such as the UN and the World Health Organizations have been on the forefront in advocating for the recognition of save water accessibility as a human right (Moench 2003). The concept of property rights and privatization has extended into the prevailing debate on water as a human right. Application of this concept on the water resource continues elicit several ethical issues based on environment virtues. This paper explores the Moral Reasoning And Ethical Principles Surrounding The View Of Water As Human Right with the aim of developing a moral stance on the issue. Water as a Basic Condition for Survival Endorsement of water as a fundamental human right by the UN Committee on Human Rights has been explained through the moral view of water as a necessity to the survival of human kind (Bleisch 2006). Owing to the inseparable connection between life and water, environmental ethicists view accessibility of to clean drinking water as a fundamental moral right. Human rights revolve around protection of individuals from possible harm or threat to their life, a principle that provides adequate support for the endorsement of water as a fundamental human right. Analysis of the importance of water within the tenets of basic human rights reveals that every individual deserves protection from the risks associated with lack of clean drinking water. Inaccessibility to clean drinking water exposes human life to numerous life threatening risks than denial of any other human right can (Barraque 2004). Following the increased inaccessibility to clean drinking water in United States and other parts of the world, the World Health Organization declared inaccessibility to clean water as one of the great threats to wellbeing of the global society (Llamas, Martinez-Cortina & Mukherji 2007). This could be attributed to the life threatening risks associated with unsafe drinking water such as water borne diseases among other adverse effects on survival of people. Lack of access to safe drinking water in developing countries has led to loss of many lives due preventable diseases associated with unsafe drinking water. Unsafe water and poor sanitation continue to account for the highest number of disease diagnosed in most hospital in the developing countries where accessibility to safe drinking water remains far from becoming a reality (Chamberlain 2008). In accessibility to safe drinking water is not a problem in the developing countries but also a common problem to marginalized groups in developed countries and people living in slams. A close analysis of the human rights stipulated under the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) reveal that such rights are vested on the moral importance of human life. The moral basis for these human rights serves to justify the need to recognize water as a human right due to its close connection to survival of human kind (Bleisch 2006). Although, it may be disputed that treatment of accessibility to water as human right may meet some of the traits associated with human rights such the dependence on government and institutions, accessibility of water can be termed as independent of any control other than natural control. Like other moral human rights, water can be treated as independent of any institution or organization. This view dismisses the concept water privatization and ownership of the resources by few individuals and organizations. Distribution of the water by organization has been partially attributed to the declining accessibility to safe water across the globe. From the political perspective, accessibility to safe water meets the criteria for human rights in which individual governments are obliged to guarantee such rights, failure to which results to the international community interventions (Moench 2003). The global community has intervened in many developing countries enable to provide their citizens with access to safe water to guarantee access the very essential commodity to survival of people. Although, the UDHR failed to recognized water in the declaration for right to good living standard through provision of essential needs such as food, shelter and clothing, water emerges to be central to the provision of such needs. Inaccessibility to safe drinking water among some populations and communities amounts to violation of other morally based human rights such as the right to health and decent life (Traer 2010). Individual health is determined by various factors among them accessibility to safe drinking water and proper sanitation. In this case, inaccessibility to water or limitation in accessing water exacerbates violation of other fundamental moral rights. Water as a necessity to the survival and decent standard of living buttresses the importance of its recognition as fundamental moral. Accessibility to safe water emerges a necessity the promotion of the moral importance of life through prevention of deaths from water-related diseases, dehydration and hunger (Bettini 2007). Water accessibility is directly connected to availability of people through farming and production commodities essential of preservation of human life. Water serves as a form of empowerment for the poor people due to its wide application in generating food stuffs and income. The Influence of Water Accessibility by People and Institutions The main purpose of the UDHR revolves around protection of people from harm by others, governmental structures and institutions. In line with this school of thought, water fits well as a human right because governments, institutions and individual limit free accessibility to water as an essential condition to their survival. Several human activities have been associated with the increased inaccessibility to water in different parts of world including privatization and commercialization of water resources (Shah 2010). Commercialization of water has limited accessibility to safe water especially among the poor and marginalized group. Association of water inaccessibility with commercialization of water resources revolves around the price tagged on accessing safe water that has emerged unaffordable to many people living in the slums and other deplorable living conditions (Bartol, Canney, Cunningham, Flaherty & McNamee 2011). Recognition of water as tradable good has contributed to the boom in bottled water business in many parts of the world. The act of privatizing water resources contributes to the increased number of people unable to access clean water across the globe (Mittelstaedt 2008). Privatization of the water resources in different countries has put the right to distribute and manage the natural resource in the hands of few people who determine who should access water and who should not. From an environmental ethics perspective, privatization of the water resource goes against the consequentialist moral theory which dictates that a morally right action should lead to the greatest benefits and the majority of people (Chamberlain 2008). Privatization of water limits the ability of majority of the people to access the commodity thereby leaving others to suffer at the expense of a self-centered minority group. In this case, recognition of water as a human right would not only guarantee all people regardless of their economic, political and social status accessibility to water but also eliminate practices such as privatization and commercialization of water resources. Recognition of water as a human right would compel governments and concerned authorities to put up measures capable of ensuring free accessibility of water without any form of discrimination as in the case of other human rights. Inclusion of water as a fundamental human right provides the best opportunity for dealing with the global water crisis. From the utilitarian perspective, universal declaration of water as a human right would provide the greatest happiness for the majority of people all over the world as opposed to the current situation in which only a small percentage of the global population is guaranteed access to safe drinking water. Like other freely accessible natural resources essential to the survival of people such as air, water requires a similar approach in order to eliminate potential limitation to their survival of people (Traer 2010). Since the accessibility of safe water to some people in the society is limited by individuals with vested self interests, recognition of water as human right presents a great opportunity to restoration of the free accessibility to water that existed before it commercialization. Management of the Water Resources and Ethical Implications The current management of water resources by private organization such as the bottled water companies continues to impact negatively on the accessibility of safe water to all people (Bartol, Canney, Cunningham, Flaherty & McNamee 2011). These organizations have made safe water to be only accessible to few people in the society compared to the majority who cannot afford the commodity. However, recognition of water as a human right presents a great opportunity for transformation in the management of water through obliging different governments and international organization intervene in order to guarantee the fundamental right. Management of water by the government and the pressure from the international institutions on human rights would ensure equal accessibility to safe water for people around the global. In this case, human right to provides a synergy to the promotion of other human rights such as human equality inclusiveness, and upholding of human dignity (Scanlon, Cassar & Nemes 2004). Indeed, there is no life without water, hence proper management and non-discriminative distribution of water would ensure sustainability of human dignity as an important moral stance. Declaration of water as a human right offers an opportunity to ensure equitable provision of water as an essential to human life. Therefore, inclusion of water as a fundamental moral right in the UDHR would avert all the moral historical injustices in the accessibility to the water resource in most parts of the world (Foundation for the Future 2010). This emerges as the only way to promote environmental ethics in the management which emphasizes on consideration of human end in all ethical decisions. The pluralistic teleological moral theory which emphasizes on the importance of human end in making ethical environmental decisions can be well supported by recognition of water as one of the fundamental moral rights. Water as a human Right: Is the view ethical? The view of water as human right is indeed ethical because it revolves around promotion of human dignity and protection of human life. The growing inaccessibility to safe water to majority of the people in across the globe and the life threatening risks associated with phenomenon forms the root cause for the assertion of water to be recognized as a human right. Inaccessibility to safe drinking water has not only undermined the ethical principle on human dignity but also resulted in numerous deaths from preventable water borne disease(Scanlon, Cassar & Nemes 2004). The importance of having water as human right in order enhance the commitment of the national and international community is in line with ethical emphasis on protecting human life. Therefore, declaration of water as human rights puts the global community on the track to promote human dignity and life. Recognition of this right present an great opportunity to eliminate unethical actions such discrimination in the accessibility to water on the basis of economic and social status. The scarcity of water can be attributed to unethical practices such as privatization and commercialization of the commodity, phenomena that have seen accessibility of the essential commodity to selected people in the community. The ethical stance on the view of water as a human right can further be supported through different theories of morality. Consequential Theory: Utilitarianism The entire concept of human rights revolves around maximization of people’s welfare through reduction of protection of all people across the globe (Strike & Soltis 2004). Nearly all human rights under the UDHR were establish to ensure that people attain the greatest benefits as human beings through establishment of mechanisms in form of human rights to guarantee basic social, economic and political rights. Consequentialists interpret or judge an action or decision as morally right based on the consequences of associated with such actions or decisions. Therefore, water as a human right can be judge from the consequential theory perspective through evaluation of the potential consequences on the lives of all people across the globe. Human rights under the UDHR have played a critical role in protecting all people around the world from the excesses of governmental, institution as well as powerful individuals. The ability of to limit violation of certain human rights under the universal declaration thereby clarifies the positive consequences associated with such human rights. In line with what the other human rights have been able to achieve so far in promoting welfare of the majority people, the right to water can be associated with similar benefits. From the consequential theory perspective, declaration of water as a human right presents great positive consequences to many people including enhanced chances of survival, accessibility to safe drinking water and synergizing attainment of other fundamental moral rights such as right to health and decent living standards (Hairston 2008). Recognition of water as a human right will not guarantee accessibility to safe water to majority of the global populations and limit different forms of suffering. Consequential ethicists would argue that declaration water as a human right provides a strategic way to the end of suffering to many people around the globe including marginalized groups in the developed countries and people in the developing countries. Inequality in the accessibility to safe drinking water in many parts of the world has resulted in loss of millions of innocent lives from water borne diseases, dehydration and hunger (Bleisch 2006). Such eventualities provide adequate consequential support for the need to declare water as a human right to avert such sufferings and deaths associated with the unequal accessibility to safe water. Although, the consequential theory lies within the tenets of utilitarianisms, utilitarianism particularly supports pursuance of actions and decisions that present the greatest happiness for the majority of people. Since declaration of water as a human right would enable all people to access safe water and bring to an end to the suffering of many people who access to safe water, the utilitarian theory therefore provides a concrete moral support to such declarations Non-Consequential Theory The consequential theory disputes assertion by consequentialist ethicists on the need to focus on maximization of benefits in determining the moral or ethical stance of an action of decision. Instead, non-consequentialists emphasize on evaluation of what is morally acceptable in the society in every step or decision associated with an action (Chamberlain 2008). The view of water as human rights can be supported on the basis of the non-consequential theory in that it has everything good to do with the society. Declaration of water as human right indirectly exerts a moral influence on the wellbeing of the global society through triggering of social, economical and political changes aimed at making the lives of people better. Potential changes associated with the declaration of water as a human right can be judged as morally right as they present everything good to do with the human life. Declaration of water as human right will initiate changes in the existing water management arrangement to guarantee equitable distribution of the resources. Owing to the importance of water to life, every member of the society would support changes aimed at promoting water accessibility to majority of the people around the globe. Similar human rights under UDHR, water as human right opens avenues for the national and the international community to intervene and take as their responsibility to ensure that every individual gains access to adequate safe water. Water forms a strong basis for realization of other fundamental human rights such as the right to good health, food shelter and other life necessities. From the non-consequential theory, water as human right may not necessarily guarantee maximum benefits from the water resources but can lead great positive influence on the moral life of many people (Strike & Soltis 2004). Water human right promises more positive changes in the lives of many people compared to the sole goal of ensuring that everyone reaps equitable benefits from the natural water resource. The moral support for the view of water as a human right can be traced from the belief that its implementation would lead to changes in the management of water resources such as elimination of its commercialization and privatizations. Such changes can be termed as morally acceptable because historical injustices in the distribution and ownership of the commodity will be eliminated to guarantee the numerous benefits associated with equitable accessibility to water across the globe. Moral Stance Recognition of water as a human right can be justified through various environmental ethical theories including the utilitarian theory, as well as the non-consequential theory. The move presents an effective way of attaining the greatest benefits for the majority of people across the globe as supported by environmental consequentialist. The right to water seeks to eliminate the problem of discriminative accessibility to safe water in most countries as a result of commercialization and privatization of the water resources. On the other hand, recognition of water as morally right or ethical can be justified by the fact that water and life are two inseparable entities. In essence denial of water can be interpreted as depriving people the right to life. Therefore, declaration of water as a human right can be justified through the moral importance vested in human life and the need to safeguard it all costs. The association of water and the survival of people fit into the ethical principle in support of human dignity and equality. The right to water presents an opportunity for the national and the global community to work towards the common goal of attaining the common good for all people (Foundation for the Future 2010). The view of water as a human right therefore, finds substantial support from the ethical principles and the moral school of thought. Recommendations Although, there have been arguments that water does not meet the criteria for the recognition of a right as a fundamental human right, its inseparable connection provides adequate moral support for its consideration as a human right. Alternative, water can be easily incorporated into the declaration on fundamental human rights through amendment of the declaration capture it under the right to life. This owes to the recognition of water as a necessary condition to the survival of human life. The denial to water accessibility can be interpreted as a violation of the human right to life since lack of safe water easily translates to deaths from dehydration, water borne diseases and hunger. In order to limit introduction of other rights to various natural resources, water can be enacted as a sub-sections to the existing right to life. Such connections can be supported by the intrinsic value of life and the connection between survival and accessibility to safe water. The dilemmas surrounding the pending declaration of water as human right across the globe can be resolved through attempts to weigh the benefits associated with such as move to the global society against its perceived demerits by some anti-human right concept. Attempts should be made to incorporate political and economical evidence on the importance of water as human right rather than dwelling on the ethical or moral school of reason. Such attempts would convince politicians and economists to lobby for its speedy incorporation into the fundamental human rights under the UDHR. Finally, both social and environmental ethicists establish common ground on the issues to reduce the delay in its declaration as a result of lack of consensus on the view of water as a human right (Floyd 2010). Conclusion Endorsement of water as a human right by the United Nations triggered a heated debate on the ethical issues surrounding extensively covered by different scholars. Recognition of water as a human right not only guarantees accessibility of safe water to all people across the world but also provides an avenue to eliminate existing injustices in the distribution of scarce resources. The right to water is in line with the different moral and ethical principles including the focus on maximizing benefits of an action or decision, the principle of human dignity and equality. Environmental ethicists assert that water should be treated in a similar manner to air due to its crucial role in the survival or sustainability of human life. Since the importance of water to life cannot be overemphasised, water should be treated like other human rights stipulated in UDHR with the aim of protecting human life and dignity. Therefore, the global community is morally justified to consider enactment of water as a fundamental human right. 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