Gorbachev call for global law on water access

     Access to clean water should be enshrined in international law as a human right, says Mikhail Gorbachev, the former president of the Soviet Union.
     Mr Gorbachev, who is chairman of the charity Green Cross International, which campaigns on water problems, is pressing the UN to adopt a convention on fresh water similar to that covering human rights.
     About 1bn people lack access to clean water and 2bn lack access to sanitation, with the problem being aggravated by the demands of increasing populations and economic growth. Climate change has also shifted rainfall patterns and caused supplies of fresh water to dwindle.
     Mr Gorbachev says that the problem is urgent. «Before, people thought water was available and would always be available, and the problem was not that severe. Now it is necessary to adopt a convention that would declare the right of access to good quality drinking water as a human right».
He has written to 40 governments to seek support for his proposal, and so far nearly 20 have responded to offer their backing.
     The convention he proposes would force governments to accept responsibility for providing their citizens with safe water and place obligations on them to manage their nation's water more responsibly.
Water scarcity is seen as a possible flashpoint for conflict around the world. The former Soviet leader's proposal would seek to reduce such tension by laying down firm principles on the management of rivers that cross international borders and shared river basins.
     Mr Gorbachev says water is becoming a source of «severe conflict» within and between countries. «People, when they lack water, will stop at nothing to get water», he says.
     He cites examples such as the Middle East, where the rights to certain water courses have been fought over by Israelis and Arabs, as well as areas of northern and southern Africa and central Asia, where water is igniting conflict.
     He says UN reforms should expand the role of the Security Council beyond military security to economic and environmental safeguards, both of which strongly affect military security, and warns that failure to act on environmental problems will lead to serious upheavals.
     «I wonder whether we should wait to see waves of migration as a result of the lack of safe water, whether we want see people take matters into their hands to force politicians at different levels to address these issues», he says.
     A convention can be passed by the UN only if proposed by a state, which has not yet happened. But Mr Gorbachev says that he expects to see his proposals brought forward within the UN soon. «I think that they will take steps and we'll be reminding them of this».

By Fiona Harvey