Over two billion people lack access to safe drinking water – and the situation is set to become bleaker still due to climate change. How do we build equitable and collective approaches to global water security such that everyone’s basic right to clean water can be upheld, ask Jo Trevor and Padmini Iyer?

Las Vegas and Turkana in north-west Kenya are both running out of water. But while the American city speeds ahead with the financing, planning, public debate and technology to keep people’s taps running, the Kenyan region faces a bleak, drought-ridden future. That stark contrast highlights how global inequality is at the heart of water insecurity.

Water is a basic human right, yet over two billion people lack access to safe drinking water. This crisis is expected to worsen, with the gap between available water and demand projected to reach 40% by 2030 due to climate change. How should we make sense of this problem? And what needs to be done?

Water security is fundamental to everything

Water security needs to be at the very top of the global development agenda as it is fundamental to everything: to community health, to food and nutrition, to education and employment, and to social cohesion. None of these can happen without secure water.

The issue is inextricably tied to economic inequality: the world’s poorest places and people tend to be more water insecure because they cannot afford the large investments needed to buffer against risks. Income inequality further intersects with gender, race, ethnicity and disability, thus perpetuating water insecurity among already-marginalised groups.

Most urgently, the climate emergency is exacerbating the outlook for water security, with the surge in climate-related disasters having an outsized impact on water availability, quality and access (as well as amplifying economic inequalities). There is a desperate need to strengthen resilience and safeguard the water security for those at the front line of the climate emergency.

Despite all of this, our collective global efforts to manage this precious resource remain inconsistent and often negligent, with water extraction far outpacing preservation and regeneration.

What’s needed most of all is to talk not only about water access but about effective governance. We need to ask: who makes the decisions about how water is managed? Who is included and who is excluded from these decisions? Are the communities, especially rural ones, that are struggling to meet their water needs getting a say, or are the interests of water-intensive industries and city-dwellers being unjustly prioritised?

Effective governance means meeting diverse water needs efficiently and equitably, integrating climate-smart interventions and ensuring inclusive decision-making. Currently, a combination of entrenched politics, overly rigid systems and unimplemented policies serve to exacerbate inequalities in water distribution and management. Urbanisation, subsidies for water-intensive industries and large-scale land acquisitions for agribusiness further drive this inequality.

In addition to rethinking policies, systems and practices, an urgent need remains for governments to invest in water security. National spending on water, sanitation and hygiene, particularly in countries experiencing severe water insecurity, remains woefully low despite impending and ongoing crises.

Four ways to start to tackle this global challenge

It’s a daunting global challenge, so where do we start?

Oxfam, LSE, Arup and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) recently convened private sector partners, academics, NGOs, financial organisations and other key stakeholders for a day of discussion on water security and collective action. Based on these discussions and Oxfam’s wider work on water, we highlight four areas for action by governments and the international community.

First, and perhaps most importantly, we need massive investment in water security. In fact, to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on water, global investment needs to increase three-fold. And with the public sector currently shouldering up to 91% of the cost, the private sector must also be asked to contribute more. We also need investment in climate-smart water systems, technology for water conservation and water-secure landscapes.

Second, every area struggling with water shortages needs to be supported to do place-based planning at the water catchment level to develop inclusive conservation plans that involve local populations and businesses. This approach, exemplified by Las Vegas, involves investment in technology, public debate, information sharing and financing in order to preserve and conserve water resources. However, this model is not replicated in many water-stressed regions such as East Africa, Iraq, or Bangladesh, where communities are pushed beyond their coping limits.

Third, we need every government and international organisation to put water insecurity at the top of the inequality and climate policy agenda. The climate crisis will disproportionately affect the water access of poorer households, and women especially, so any measures adopted to tackle both climate impacts and socioeconomic inequalities must acknowledge these points.

Finally, we need more (and better) collective action: collaborative funding and cooperative interventions at a global level, going beyond any single organisation or government. Whilst there are a number of global initiatives to address water insecurity, there seems to be a gap in global oversight and coordination of the world’s water. Could an independent and trustworthy convening body on water address the competing demands for this diminishing resource? Is there a role for a global negotiation system for water, or an arbitrator? Such a body might work in tandem with intergovernmental organisations to address transboundary issues such as forced migration and conflicts driven by water insecurity.

What’s clear is that water insecurity urgently requires a global, multifaceted approach that includes better governance, increased investment and collective action. We need change in how the world manages its dwindling and precious supplies of water right now so that the most vulnerable populations are not left behind in the fight for water security.

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All articles posted on this blog give the views of the author(s). They do not represent the position of LSE Inequalities, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Image credits: Banner image shows water shortage in Marsabit County, Kenya © Andrew Mboya / Oxfam. In-text image show water point in Turkana County, Kenya © Blandina Bobson / Oxfam.