Overview
Water is integral to every aspect of life. Hegemonic actors, capitalist systems, and industrialized societies see water as a commodity and prioritize economic benefits in detriment of local communities. Therefore, lack of access, distribution, and right to water creates injustices at multiple levels.
Water issues range from water pollution, water degradation and water depletion to water grabbing for unsustainable activities like industrial agriculture, disproportionate consumption of goods, mining activities, and energy production ranging from fossil fuels to fracking.
At the intersection of water issues is injustice, and therefore prioritizing the need to dismantle projects by transnational institutions and corporations is of utmost importance. The struggle to protect water resources in local communities is accelerated by the development agenda that reinforces economic growth over community’s needs and misuse water instead of sustaining life.
Privatization of water resources, water depletion due to overextraction, and pollution from industrial uses to greenwashing resolutions like dam-building activities and sustainable operations aggravates the struggle for water justice in the Global South.
There are multiple alternatives like water sovereignty, remunicipalisation, communal water rights, low-cost community-owned infrastructure and customary water laws which can be seen as pathways to challenge the structures of power in order to create a more just and sustainable world.
**Disclaimer: It is critical to recognize that the solutions for water justice should not be limited and/or dependent on state, local or federal regulations. We acknowledge that the solutions presented in this platform do not include common forms of resolutions like water enforcement mechanisms for water protection and water regulations.