Climate change and the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation The human rights to safe drinking water was recognized by the UN General Assembly (resolution 64/292) and the Human Rights Council (resolution 15/9). In its General Comment No. 15, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights clarified that the human right to water means that everyone is entitled to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. In its General Comment No. 15, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) outlines that “States parties should adopt comprehensive and integrated strategies and programmes to ensure that there is sufficient and safe water for present and future generations”, including by “assessing the impacts of actions that may impinge upon water availability and natural-ecosystems watersheds, such as climate changes, desertification and increased soil salinity, deforestation and loss of biodiversity”. In 2010, the Independent Expert on the human right to water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, wrote a position paper highlighting the impacts of climate change on the normative content of the human rights to water and sanitation. Her findings are summarized below: Explanation of normative content Impact of climate change Availability holds that the water supply for each person must be sufficient and continuous for personal and domestic uses. These uses ordinarily include drinking, sanitation, washing of clothes, food preparation, personal and household hygiene. Water availability will be threatened by increased water scarcity and competition for resources. Quality means that the water required for each personal or domestic use must be safe and free from contaminants that threaten health. Water should be of an acceptable colour, odour and taste for each personal or domestic use. Water quality will decline through overexploitation of groundwater and increased concentration of pollutants. Accessibility means water facilities and services have to be accessible to everyone without discrimination. Accessibility has four overlapping dimensions: physical accesibility, economic accessibility, non-discrimination, and information accessibility. The accessibility of water and sanitation services will be threatened through widespread damage and infrastructure due to flooding and extreme events. Affordability means that access to sanitation facilities and services, including construction, emptying and maintenance, must be available at a price that is affordable for all people without limiting their capacity to access other human rights. The affordability of water services may decline as increased competition between uses of water leads to rising costs. Acceptability means that water and sanitation services must be culturally acceptable. This includes that they should be safe, and ensure privacy and dignity. Under increasing stress, it is likely that the cultural acceptability of water and sanitation services is not prioritized and is in some cases ignored. 3