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Sustainable Water Consumption, Foreign Direct Investment and the Human Right to Water

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Sustainable Consumption

Abstract

This chapter sketches a picture of the entry of the private sector into the water business through foreign direct investment. It does so against the backdrop of the worldwide demand for sustainable water consumption and the human right to water. A region-by-region inventory of the global water crisis is detailed to show the full extent of ‘peak water’. The water privatization processes undertaken in different countries is detailed, with the aim of identifying the extent to which the ‘business of water privatization’ represents sound policy in the face of this world water crisis and the demand for sustainable water consumption. This discussion supports a broader claim: that of the human right to access water. Private sector involvement is necessary in some countries and regions of the world to promote ‘water social inclusion’ given the lack of public resources for investment. However, the success of such policy, in most places, depends on previous public regulation that considers sustainable development and human rights.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    United Nations (2009), p. 14.

  2. 2.

    IWMI (2009).

  3. 3.

    Allan (1997).

  4. 4.

    Vieira (2016b).

  5. 5.

    Barlow and Clarke (2002).

  6. 6.

    Allan (1997), p. 3.

  7. 7.

    Barlow and Clarke (2002).

  8. 8.

    Ibid.

  9. 9.

    Ibid.

  10. 10.

    Palaniappan and Gleik (2008), p. 79.

  11. 11.

    Ibid.

  12. 12.

    Barlow and Clarke (2002).

  13. 13.

    Palaniappan and Gleik (2008), p. 79.

  14. 14.

    Caubet (2006), p. 178.

  15. 15.

    Barlow and Clarke (2002), p. 94.

  16. 16.

    Ibid.

  17. 17.

    Ibid, p. 95.

  18. 18.

    Tucci (2000).

  19. 19.

    Barlow and Clarke (2002), p. 213.

  20. 20.

    Palaniappan and Gleik (2008), p. 3.

  21. 21.

    Barlow and Clarke (2002).

  22. 22.

    UN Water (2015a).

  23. 23.

    Palaniappan and Gleik (2008).

  24. 24.

    United Nations (2013), p. 12.

  25. 25.

    Budds and McGranaham (2003), p. 90.

  26. 26.

    Budds and McGranaham (2003), p. 91.

  27. 27.

    Ibid.

  28. 28.

    Ibid, p. 89.

  29. 29.

    Ibid, p. 109.

  30. 30.

    González-Gomez and García-Rubio (2008).

  31. 31.

    Rogers and Hall (2003), p. 26.

  32. 32.

    Ibid, p. 32.

  33. 33.

    Barraqué (1995), p. 427.

  34. 34.

    Barlow and Clarke (2002), p. 85.

  35. 35.

    Barraqué (1995).

  36. 36.

    Ibid, p. 441.

  37. 37.

    Eau De Paris (2017).

  38. 38.

    Lobina and Hall (2001), p. 6.

  39. 39.

    González-Gomez and García-Rubio (2008), p. 53.

  40. 40.

    Lobina and Hall (2001), p. 8.

  41. 41.

    Ibid.

  42. 42.

    Ibid.

  43. 43.

    UK Consumer’s Council for Water (2010).

  44. 44.

    Azpiazu (2005), p. 45.

  45. 45.

    Celli (2009), p. 219.

  46. 46.

    Budds and McGranaham (2003), p. 100.

  47. 47.

    Celli (2009), p. 217.

  48. 48.

    Ibid.

  49. 49.

    Ibid.

  50. 50.

    Caubet (2006), p. 173.

  51. 51.

    Ibid.

  52. 52.

    Celli (2009), p. 220.

  53. 53.

    Ibid.

  54. 54.

    Foster (2005).

  55. 55.

    Ibid, p. 21.

  56. 56.

    Barlow and Clarke (2002), p. 189.

  57. 57.

    Associação Brasileira das Concessionárias Privadas de Serviços Públicos de Água e Esgoto (2017).

  58. 58.

    These are located in the states of São Paulo (the cities of São Carlos and Ribeirão Preto), Rio de Janeiro (Búzios, Cabo Frio, São Pedro da Aldeia, Iguaba, Petrópolis and 90 other cities), Espírito Santo (Cachoeiro do Itapemirim), Mato Grosso do Sul (Campo Grande), Mato Grosso (some small cities), Santa Catarina (some small cities), Minas Gerais (some small cities), Paraná (the entire State), Pará (some small cities) and Amazonas (the capital city Manaus).

  59. 59.

    Olivier (2006).

  60. 60.

    Lobina and Hall (2001).

  61. 61.

    Sistema Nacional de Informações sobre Saneamento (SNIS) (2016) available at http://www.snis.gov.br/. Accessed 20 January 2017.

  62. 62.

    Rogers and Hall (2003), Castro (2007), Ribeiro (2008), and Vieira (2016b).

  63. 63.

    Caubet (2006), Mirandola and Sampaio (2005), Petrella (2009), and Vieira (2016b).

  64. 64.

    Mirandola and Sampaio (2005), p. 4.

  65. 65.

    World Water Council (2003), p. 7.

  66. 66.

    GA/10967 Document A/64/L.63/REV.1.

  67. 67.

    UN SDGs (2015b).

  68. 68.

    Winkler (2012), and Vieira (2016a).

  69. 69.

    WHO (2011).

  70. 70.

    Ibid.

  71. 71.

    Smets (2000).

  72. 72.

    WWC (2003), p. 18.

  73. 73.

    WHO/UNICEF (2000).

  74. 74.

    WWC (2003).

  75. 75.

    Ibid.

  76. 76.

    E/CN.4/2002/59, para. 56.

  77. 77.

    Cançado Trindade (1993), pp. 81, 179.

  78. 78.

    Winkler (2012).

  79. 79.

    WWC (2003), p. 9.

  80. 80.

    Ibid.

  81. 81.

    Dubreuil (2006), p. 4.

  82. 82.

    Dubreuil (2006), p. 15.

  83. 83.

    Roaf (2005).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Catholic University of Santos, São Paulo, Brazil

    Andreia Costa Vieira

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  1. Andreia Costa Vieira
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Correspondence to Andreia Costa Vieira .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Alberto do Amaral Junior

  2. Florence School of Regulation, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence, Italy

    Lucila de Almeida

  3. Department of Law, UNISINOS University of the Rio dos Sinos Valley and University of Buenos Aires, São Leopoldo, Brazil

    Luciane Klein Vieira

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Vieira, A.C. (2020). Sustainable Water Consumption, Foreign Direct Investment and the Human Right to Water. In: Amaral Junior, A.d., Almeida, L.d., Klein Vieira, L. (eds) Sustainable Consumption. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16985-5_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16985-5_18

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