Year: 2024
Type: report
Abstract: Dear Avosetta membersThis year's Avosetta meeting in Rennes will look at the topic of Water Law & Sustainable Trajectories.The choice of this topic resonates strongly with current events such as demonstrated by the UN Water Conference in 2023, 46 years after the first UN Water conference in Mar Del Plata (Argentina).As one of the outcomes of this conference, the Water Action Agenda brings together a collection of voluntary commitments from States, regional integration organisations such as the EU and other stakeholders.While the next UN Water Conference is scheduled for 2026, France and Kazakhstan will co-host a OneWater Summit in New York in September 2024 in parallel with a session of the United Nations General Assembly.This blue diplomatic effervescence confirms that Water, source of Life but also of growing conflicts exacerbated by climate change, seems at last to have become a priority issue on the political agenda in the context of the UN Water Action Decade 2018-2028 and the 2030 Agenda for sustainable Development.In the name of ecological emergency, the discourses of the UN Secretary-General are clearly eloquent and Antonio Guterres strongly invites radical change to the rules of the game and ensure water security for everyone."Water is humanity's lifeblood, from the food we eat to the ecosystems and biodiversity that enrich our world to the prosperity that sustains nations (…) Water is a human right and a common development denominator to shape a better future.But Water is in deep trouble.We are draining humanity's lifeblood through vampiric overconsumption and unsustainable use and evaporating it through global heating.We've broken the water cycle, destroyed ecosystems and contaminated groundwater.Nearly three out of four natural disasters are linked to water.One in four people lives without safely managed water services of clean drinking water.And over 1.7 billion people lack basic sanitation" (SG/SM/21737-22/3/2023). From among more than 750 Voluntary Commitments for the Water Action Agenda submitted by different nations and various stakeholders, the EU has presented its Water priorities broken down into 33 commitments and its 2050 vision for Water.This vision is based on five crucial targets: -Water security for all -Global resilience to Water stress -Human right to safe drinking water and sanitation without compromising the rights of future generations -Protected and restored aquatic ecosystems -A fair balance between water supply and demand.This international momentum and awareness of the urgency of the situation is also reflected at the level of the EU and its Member States.Faced with multidimensional and cross-cutting issues, a critical analysis of water and environmental Law is essential.Calls for transformative action also require a strong contribution from all branches of Law for sustainable water trajectories.1 COM (2021) 970 final.Report from the Commission on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), the Environmental Quality Standards Directive (2008/105/EC amended by Directive 2013/39/EY) and the Flood Directive (2007/60/EC) 2 EEA Briefing « Europe's groundwater -a key resource under pressure", 3/2022 3 SWD (2019) 439, final.Fitness Check of the WFD, Groundwater Directive, Environmental Quality Standards Directive and Floods Directive.COM (2019) 95 final.Report on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and the Floods Directive 2007/60/EC. 4 COM (2021) 970 final.5 COM (2021) 970 final.6 C-298/19 (Hellenic Republic)-C-328/16 (Hellenic Republic) ; C-251/17 (Italian Republic); C-205/17 (Kingdom of Spain); C-167/14 (Hellenic Republic); C-533/11 (Kingdom of Belgium) ; C-576/11 (Grand-Duché du Luxembourg) 7 COM (2021) 970 final.8 12/7/2023 : Water-efficient consumption; 13/7/2023 : Opinion Water poverty; Opinion "Water-intensive industries and water-efficient technologies"; Opinion The economics of an EU Blue Deal; Opinion "Sustainable water management and climate emergency -blue deal", Opinion "Sustainable and resilient water infrastructure and distribution networks".21/9/2023 : Opinion "Water politics -blue diplomacy" 9 In 2022, A scientific publication estimates that the planetary boundary for freshwater has now been transgressed.L.
Authors: Iwańska, Barbara, Baran, Mariusz
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7110702666