Environmental Justice

Access to safe, affordable water is a human right

The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use. 

The International Human Right to Water

The human right to water has been recognized in international treaties and national constitutions since 2002. However, this right is being eroded by the inclusion of water and other essential services as commodities in international trade treaties and conventions. UUSC works with partners and colleague organizations to guarantee that privatization does not threaten people's right to access safe, affordable water.

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Examining the Water Crisis and Climate Change

UUSC understands that there is a global water crisis, which is the product of shifting and competing political and economic interests, depletion from environmental contamination, climate change, over-extraction and increasing population. As a human rights organization, we recognize the urgent need to respond. More people are losing their access to clean affordable water in the United States and overseas, and too often, the victims are poor people, women, and racial and ethnic minorities.

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Pursuing Shareholder Advocacy and Corporate Accountability

An important part of the strategy of the Environmental Justice Program is to hold corporate elites accountable for water injustices. Working together with NorthStar Asset Management, UUSC has made important advances in pressuring private water utilities and beverage and electronics companies to address the human right to water in their operations.

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Featured stories about the human right to water