UN rejects water as basic human right: a special resolution proposed by Germany and Spain at the UN human rights council was stripped of references that recognized access to water as a human right. The countries also chose to scrap the idea of creating an international watchdog to investigate the issue, choosing instead to appoint a new consultant that would make recommendations over the next three years.
Water and war: Problems of water scarcity and water pollution affect human and ecosystem health, and hinder economic and agricultural development. Local and regional problems, in turn, may affect the rest of the world by threatening food supplies and global economic development. The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development concludes that these problems could result in a series of local and regional water crises, with serious global implications.
Is there likely to be violent conflict over water in the future? Past experience suggests that this is unlikely. However, many claim that the probability of conflict is increasing.
