2.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water: Three organizations call for action ahead of the UN Water Conference

2.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water: Three organizations call for action ahead of the UN Water Conference

Sixteen years after the UN recognized safe drinking water as a fundamental human right, the crisis is worsening: 2.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water, and 3.4 billion lack access to basic sanitation—figures that have risen since 2010. The Agora of the Inhabitants of the Earth, the Collectif Bassines Non Merci!, and Rise For Climate condemn governments’ failure to uphold this right and call on citizen movements, labor unions, and civil society to mobilize ahead of the major UN Water Conference scheduled for December 2026.

The three organizations are pointing to failed priorities: far from investing in drinking water and sanitation, the dominant powers have prioritized military spending, to the point of spending 2,900 billion dollars in 2025 according to SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)—with the United States, China, and Russia leading the way. In Europe, under pressure from the mining lobby, the European Commission has opened the door to deregulation of the Water Framework Directive, which has protected the continent’s water quality for 25 years. Climate denial and inaction are also exacerbating droughts and water shortages around the world, fueling water-related conflicts.

During this critical period of heat waves that are severely affecting Western Europe, we condemn the lack of public policies essential for replenishing groundwater reserves, the depletion of which threatens water availability for agriculture, households, and public authorities alike.

The resource itself is also becoming increasingly financialized: since its listing on the Chicago Stock Exchange in 2020, water has been attracting financial markets eager to profit from its growing scarcity.

This is a direct breach of the commitment made by the international community on July 28, 2010. On that day, after more than fifteen years of debate and under pressure from social movements, the UN General Assembly adopted, at Bolivia’s initiative, a resolution recognizing that “the right to safe and quality drinking water and sanitation is a human right, indispensable for the full enjoyment of the right to life ”—passed by 122 countries, with 41 abstentions. The text drew on an already alarming assessment: 884 million people without access to safe drinking water, 2.6 billion without sanitation, and approximately two million deaths each year—mostly young children—from diseases linked to unsafe drinking water.

In the face of these multiple forms of exploitation of a global public common good essential to life, the Agora of the Inhabitants of the Earth, the “Bassines Non Merci!” collective, and Rise For Climate are calling, in collaboration with “Vital Asbl” for a two-pronged mobilization: to compel governments and the oligarchies of the business and financial worlds to finally enshrine the right to water for all, and to raise public awareness about the dangers facing the planet if the UN Water Conference in December 2026 succumbs solely to the financial and technocratic interests currently outlined in its preparatory documents.

While it’s never too late to take action, the clock is ticking.

About the Agora of the Inhabitants of the Earth

[An organization founded by Riccardo Petrella, advocating for a Global Water Contract and a global water policy.]

About the Collectif Bassines Non Merci !

[A citizens’ group mobilized against the monopolization of water resources by agribusiness and fighting against the construction of mega-reservoirs for agricultural irrigation in France]

About Rise For Climate