GENEVA - A UN expert today called for rights-based energy and water systems, to avoid the commodification of water and going beyond traditional market-based energy systems.
During the presentation of his report "Water and Energy Nexus", at the UN Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, remarked that dominant energy systems promote unsustainable extractive practices.
"Coal, hydrocarbons, hydropower and nuclear energy, along with large-scale toxic discharges, overexploitation of aquatic ecosystems, and construction of large dams, have devastating consequences on human rights and the environment," he said.
The expert explained how water and energy access are deeply unequal. "Market-driven systems prioritise profit over people and the planet," he said. He argued that unchecked growth in energy-intensive industries, such as mega data centres, disrupts energy transition plans in the face of climate change while jeopardising the sustainability of aquatic ecosystems and the human rights to water and sanitation.
"States must put human rights ahead of market interests," he said. "We must demand transparency from corporations and authorities, as these activities risk undermining actions related to climate change commitments."
Given the harmful impact of dominant energy systems on the triple planetary crises and human rights, the Special Rapporteur stressed the urgent need for an energy transition. However, he insisted that developing this transition under a systematic increase in energy demand places unsustainable pressure on aquatic ecosystems and non-renewable resources and puts human rights at risk.
"While transition in the energy sector is imperative to stop climate change and related human rights harms, we need to curb our demand of water and energy, while ensuring that new energy systems do not reproduce the injustices of the past and do not pollute nor degrade aquatic ecosystems," Arrojo-Agudo said.
As most of the main risks and social impacts of climate change materialise through the water cycle, the Special Rapporteur called for greater attention to adaptation strategies led by the water transition.
"A just future demands a double transition in water and energy, promoting participatory governance models that empower communities in decision-making on these vital issues," he said.
The expert said the consideration of energy as a mere commodity should be transcended, as energy is a precondition to fulfill other fundamental rights. To this end, the explicit recognition of the right to clean and sustainable energy necessary for a dignified life as a human right under international law should be considered.
He urged countries to fully commit to "a fair, participatory, rights-based transition."
