https://doi.org/10.37815/rte.v37n1.1274

Original articles

How WASH Supports Social Justice in a Changing
Climate:    The Importance of Water

Como WASH sustenta
la Justicia Social en un clima cambiante: La importancia del aguaz

Emel Zerrouk1, 2, 3 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9581-3551

1Global Migration Policy Associates (GMPA), Geneva, Switzerland

[email-masked]

2Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Geneva, Switzerland

3Global Institute for Water, Environment and Health (GIWEH), Geneva, Switzerland

Sent:       2025/01/10

Accepted:       2025/04/25

Published:       2025/06/30

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between
social justice, the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) nexus, and the
centrality of water to both, all within the context of climate change. Our
changing climate has placed considerable pressure on the global hydrological
system, altering traditional rainfall patterns and increasing the frequency and
severity of natural disasters. Ensuring adequate and sustainable access to
fresh water for communities around the world is essential for human life and
health.  The human right to health is
seriously compromised when sanitation and hygiene services are inadequate.  It is essential that these issues are
included in discussions of social justice. In conclusion, the proposed
solutions to address the needs of the WASH nexus and climate adaptation
overlap. Climate adaptation itself is thus seen as a human rights concern and
another facet of the social justice debate.

Keywords: sanitation,
hygiene, health, climate justice, ecosystem services, water, human rights.

Summary: Introduction; Methodology; Social Justice, Climate Change
and Climate Justice; WASH as Socially Just; Climate Change, Water and the
WASH System; Discussion; Conclusions.

How to cite: Zerrouk, E. (2025).
How WASH Supports Social Justice in a Changing Climate:The
Importance of Water. Revista Tecnológica - Espol,
37(1), 121-133.

https://rte.espol.edu.ec/index.php/tecnologica/article/view/1274

Resumen

Este artículo analiza cómo se
relaciona la justicia social con el agua, el saneamiento, la higiene (WASH)
destacando el papel central del agua en estos enfoques, en el contexto del
cambio climático. El clima varía y ha ejercido una presión considerable sobre
el sistema hidrológico global, cambiando los patrones tradicionales de lluvia y
aumentando la frecuencia y gravedad de los desastres naturales. Garantizar el
acceso a agua dulce adecuada y sostenible para las comunidades del mundo es
esencial para preservar la vida y la salud de las personas. El derecho humano a
la salud se ve seriamente comprometido cuando los servicios de saneamiento e
higiene son inadecuados o insuficientes. Por ello, es fundamental promover la
inclusión de los grupos vulnerables en los debates sobre justicia social. En
conclusión, las soluciones propuestas para abordar las necesidades del nexo
WASH y la adaptación al cambio climático presentan importantes áreas de
superposición. En este contexto, la adaptación climática se reconoce como una
preocupación relacionada con los derechos humanos y como una dimensión del
debate sobre la justicia social.

Palabras
clave: saneamiento, higiene, salud, justicia climática,
servicios ecosistémicos.

Introduction

What
elements make a society just has been the purview of scholars,
politicians, philosophers and poets for generations. Answers can be found in
many religious traditions, cultural beliefs and legal doctrines. Commonalities
include the alleviation of poverty and hunger, the establishment of freedom of
belief, the unbiased application of the rule of law, the protection of
individual health, the need for a sustainable environment, to live in peace and
security, and for education to be available to all, amongst others.
Essentially, a just society protects basic human rights and freedoms without
prejudice. This idea is upheld by international Human Rights Law and other
international instruments to be discussed throughout this paper. The concept of
social justice takes these principles as the core of its ethos. This paper will
investigate what needs to be at the core of social justice, and how the
protection of the most basic of human rights, those of health, water, and
sanitation, could be the key. Without these basic rights, there can be no growth,
and other essential human rights can be undermined. Thus, the WASH nexus is
potentially the most essential determinant to social justice. At the heart of
WASH is water, a basic element without which there can be no life. Water, which
touches every aspect of our lives, is also a basic human right. But “climate
change is placing pressure on the global hydrological system and undermining
the WASH nexus. To adapt to these changes, a social justice approach to WASH is
needed, as well as the centering of water and social justice in the climate
change discourse.

This study
aims to investigate these key issues by focusing on overlaps within the nexus
of WASH - climate change - social justice and identifying the embedded social
justice elements in each distinct sub-section of the nexus, therefore unifying
the narrative. The central questions to be addressed are as follows:

1.
How
do social justice and climate change relate? In a world experiencing the shifts
brought about by a changing climate, how can we ensure the narrative of social
justice is present in climate change talks and vice versa? Is Climate Justice
at this intersection?

2.
If
the most basic human dignities are only assured when sufficient water,
sanitation and hygiene are present, then how do we link each of these more
closely to social justice and view them as essential to a just society?

3.
At
the core of WASH is water, without which the nexus cannot function. But in the
face of climate change and the various pressures that water faces, how is water
central then to the social justice discourse?

Methodology

This paper
takes an interdisciplinary approach to its research, mixing qualitative and
quantitative analysis:

•     A
literature review of relevant and current materials available on the intersection
of the subjects of: water, sanitation, hygiene, health, climate change and
social justice has been undertaken.

•     A
review of key international legal frameworks concerning the above key topics
was required to ensure the relevance of discussion and suggestions.

•     From
an epistemological perspective, in-depth research into terms, such as justice
and social justice, and how they are used was essential to the analysis of
respected topics and to the production of a narrative that is cohesive.

Social
Justice, Climate Change and Climate Justice

Social Justice, and its respective concerns, is generally accepted as
placing human rights at the center of discussions, in a way that is
non-discriminatory. At the national level, local level, and interpersonal
level, it can also be framed as a term used to describe what is considered to
be social justice. Thus, the meaning of social justice is dependent on the
societal, religious, and organisational perspectives of those using the term.
Social justice does not, then, have one concrete, agreed-upon definition, but
many different, nuanced definitions that are heavily dependent upon the agenda
of those instrumentalizing the notion. For example, an organisation such as the
International Labour Organization (ILO), as its name suggests, focuses on fair
and decent work as a way to ensure “Social Justice for a Fair Globalization.”
The ILO adopted as a principal framework this concept in June 2008. In 1998,
the United Nations declared that February 20th would be the World
Day of Social Justice, and took yet another, broader approach to defining what
social justice means. While we may not all agree on a single definition of
Social Justice, we do, however, have international, and national legislature
that establishes what is commonly accepted as socially just. Through the same
mechanisms, most societies will be in agreement on the basic elements of what
makes or is needed to establish a just society. This claim is supported by the
adoption, ratification, and subsequent integration into national law of
international human rights Conventions, International Labour Standards and
other legally binding instruments. Conversely, for these international
instruments to have been voluntarily accepted by so many States demonstrates
that the basic substance of what makes a just society was fairly commonly
acknowledged: a society that protects, implements and realizes human rights for
all.

Of these universal human rights, to name but a
few, are the right to life and a safe environment (Article 3 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights), decent and fair work (Article 23 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights), the rights of the child (Convention on the
Rights of the Child 1989), the right to health (Article 25 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights), the right to education (Article 26 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights), and the right to clean water and improved
sanitation (Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of
International Watercourses 1997). However, not all of these rights were
recognized at the same time, and in the majority of the world, the protection
of all of them is still not guaranteed. The aim of social justice then (even
without a unified definition), can be seen as the desire to ensure that these
basic human rights are protected in the here and now and without
discrimination. But, what of the future generations; is intergenerational
inequity a part of Social Justice, and in what makes our current societies
just?

The subject of climate change and its relation
to human rights fits nicely at the intersection of social justice and
intergenerational inequity. Climate change mitigation and adaptation in
themselves can be said to be human rights concerns. This is because the
cascading effects of climate change affect every element of society and have
the potential to further undermine efforts to ensure basic human rights in the
present day. The temporal aspect of climate change, as a reality that will
persist past the lifetime of those most responsible for its influence, means
that intergenerational inequity is central to the climate change discourse.
Even though intergenerational inequity may be an outlier on the topic of social
justice, its relation to climate change and the future of the human rights of
our youngest population earns it serious consideration.

It is from the same intersection that the term
Climate Justice arises and needs to be mentioned here. The United Nations
Development Program (UNDP, 2023) defines Climate Justice as: “putting equity
and human rights at the core of decision-making and action on climate change”
(ibid). Climate Justice, then can be seen as centring the climate change
discourse around social justice or, ensuring social justice in a changing
climate. There are of course then many elements to Climate justice, of which
one is based around “the polluter pays principle,” however, for this paper, we
will mention three elements as laid out by the UNDP (most specifically the
first and third principles): “structural inequalities, socioeconomic
inequalities, and intergenerational inequity” (ibid). Structural inequalities
are those based on an individual’s socioeconomic position, gender, age, and
race, thus, as we will discuss later with WASH, women and indigenous groups are
often disproportionately affected by the effects of climate change.
Socioeconomic inequalities are defined by the ability of a State, region,
community or individual, to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change
and are unequal across the globe (ibid). In terms of intergenerational
inequity, the UNDP’s definition looks at how, many of the current generation,
and the future generations have not contributed greatly to climate change but
will bear the consequences of it (UNDP, 2023). If turned around to make social
justice itself the focus of the discourse, climate justice asks us to consider
the following: in our current context of a planet in flux due to climate
change, any discussions on Social Justice need to take into account the
cascading effects that this context creates.

To address climate change and its global
impact, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2015-2030 were introduced.
These arose after the unequal progress made around the globe on the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). Although not explicitly human rights goals in and of
themselves, the SDGs nevertheless address many of the separate, and often
overlapping, human rights goals that are key to achieving Social Justice. Of
the seventeen goals taking “urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”
(UNDESA), is Goal 13. But climate change adaptation in the form of calls to
ensure sustainable development and management of resources is seen in many
others. For example, Goal 16 is to “[p]romote
peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to
justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at
all levels” (ibid). Thus, we see how both the approach of Climate Justice and a
climate change-aware implementation of Social Justice overlap.

WASH
as Socially Just

The three elements of water, sanitation and hygiene, are key
determinants of the success of a community and essentially underpin social
justice. For, what sort of quality of life can be expected if either of these
three elements are inadequate? Put together they are referred to as WASH, a
term used commonly to emphasize the interconnectivity of the subjects. WASH is
pivotal to a just society as well as to the application of the idea of social
justice. Improved water, sanitation and good hygiene (along with food), are the
primary defence against disease, child mortality, and low life expectancy.
Without these basic elements establishing, and protecting, almost every other
human right is frustrated. As such, SDG Goal 6 explicitly states that as part
of the overarching aim to create a just world, we must “[e]nsure
availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”
(ibid). Goal 3 of the SDGs is to “[e]nsure healthy
lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” (ibid). These two goals, among
others, underscore the importance of the discrete elements of WASH to create a
socially just future, as three of them protect three of the most basic human
rights: the right to water, the right to sanitation, and the right to health.
Digging further into each element of WASH and its impacts on daily life, it
becomes clear how they may undermine or support many other human rights.

Water as Key to WASH and
Social Justice

“Water is social justice; social justice is water” (Symmes, 2022),
states the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). If social justice
is ensuring the human rights of people without discrimination, then ensuring
equal access to sustainable clean water for all would need to be a priority.
However, water was only recognised in hard international law as a basic human
right in 2014 through the coming into force of the UN 1997 Convention on the
Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses. However,
many national laws and other key international law instruments, like the UNECE Convention
on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes,
which came into force in 1996, laid the foundation for recognising this
essential right. SDG Goal 6 also calls for safe drinking water to be secured
for all.

When discussing sustainable freshwater for all, there are different
dimensions to consider; these are water quality, water quantity and water
availability (or access). In terms of water quality, safe or improved water
sources are those that are free from contaminants and pollutants and,
therefore, fit for human consumption. However, around 700 million people, or
10% of the population worldwide, drink from unimproved and/or contaminated
water sources. As such, water is a key indicator of social inequity, whereas
access to clean water is an indicator of equity.

It is estimated that 20L of water per capita per day is needed for
survival needs, i.e., to drink and for food preparation. This is for
emergencies only (refer to Figure 1). This amount is an
estimate as climate and conflict situations may require much higher figures.
For example, insufficient quantities of water and contamination of water
sources are the earliest and main causes of illness for displaced populations
after and during disasters (WHO 2013). For regular daily life, however, far
more than the minimum 20L of water is required (refer to Figure 1). Water is required to
meet sanitation and hygiene needs, such as clothes washing and general
cleaning, as well as in the performance of cultural and religious activities.

Access to improved and reliable water is unequal across the globe and is
dependent on socio-economic factors as well as geography. Less than 3% of the
planet’s water is freshwater and of that, almost 70% is inaccessible (glaciers,
snow etc.). The rest is mostly located underground, with less than 0.5%
existing as surface water (Black, 2016). Many national and
international/transboundary watercourses are not able to supply growing
populations’ freshwater needs. This century water use grew “at more than twice
the rate of population increase (ibid). Rising demand reduces the availability
of water per area, be that for personal use, agriculture (70% of average
worldwide use), or industry. Demand is also fueled by changes in lifestyle and
expectations and shifts between agricultural and industrial activities.
Additionally, the ability of water sources to naturally purge themselves of
impurities is overloaded by contamination in populated regions, thus reducing
again the amount of clean water available. For example, in India per capita
availability of water has decreased to 1,500 cubic meters from 4,000 cubic
meters in fifty years (ibid). This has occurred due to a mixture of the
aforementioned reasons, with the additional strain brought on by climate change
to weather patterns.

Figure 1

Hierarchy of Water Requirements (after Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs)
According to WHO Technical Notes on Drinking-Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in
Emergencies (WHO, WEDC. (2013))

Some rural communities across the globe must rely on ‘tanked-in’ water.
It is an often unreliable and expensive way of trying to secure freshwater.
Additionally, for many communities, the scarcity of freshwater close to home is
felt disproportionately by women and children. When the closest freshwater
source is a distance away (two hours walk or more for some rural regions), it
is the job of the women or children to fetch and carry the water. This comes at
the cost of time at school, work, or personal development. The unavailability
of sustainable water sources close to home is yet another way that the need for
water, first and foremost, limits the application of other basic human
rights.

Just as the WASH nexus is essential to establishing social justice, and
should be applied in the context of what is socially just, the right to water
is crucial to both. Access to clean and sustainable freshwater sources is
necessary to address sanitation and hygiene concerns. Water underpins WASH.
Improved sanitation and proper hygiene practices begin and end with water. This
means that to create a decent sanitation system at the point of human contact,
water is required, and to maintain a decent sanitation network is to protect
that same water from contamination. With safe hygiene practices, we see the
same to be true, as water is required to ensure personal hygiene, food
preparation and everyday cleaning requirements. The water used for all these
needs must be in a state that aids in the alleviation and prevention of illness
and is not instead the carrier of it. Without access to clean and sustainable
water sources, there can be no life.

Sanitation and a Just
Society

According to WHO, only 25% of countries “are on track to achieve their
national sanitation targets” (WHO 2022). This means that with the current
trends, 67% of the population of the world will have safe and improved
sanitation systems by the goal year of 2030, “leaving 2.8 billion without” (WHO
2022). An improved sanitation facility is one that separates “human waste from
human contact” (WHO, 2024). The right to such levels of sanitation is
considered a human right internationally, and ensuring the establishment of
this right for all is part of the SDGs. However, around 3.5 billion people
worldwide lack access to “safely managed sanitation services” (WHO). Among
these, women and girls are disproportionately affected. The unavailability of
safe toilets poses a safety risk, as trips to relieve oneself may require
entering areas that are outside of communal areas, isolated and more discreet.
This is especially a problem for women and girls at night when they may become
a target for sexual predators. Safely managed sanitation services are essential
to control the flow of contamination to freshwater sources, and are a deterrent
to open defecation. Open defecation, especially of children, is a disease risk,
however, it remains the only option in communities where sanitation facilities
are not readily available or secure.

According to the World Bank “in total, an estimated 500 million [women
and girls] lack access to menstrual products and adequate facilities for
menstrual hygiene management (MHM).” (World Bank Group, 2022)

“Gender inequality, discriminatory social norms, cultural taboos,
poverty and lack of basic services like toilets and sanitary products can all
cause menstrual health and hygiene needs to go unmet” (UNICEF).

Thus, ensuring MHM needs are met requires a multifaceted approach,
however, access to improved sanitation facilities is a large part of the
problem. Many studies reveal concerns around how menstruation affects girls and
female teachers at schools, (as well as women at work in general). This is
especially true in low-income countries where almost half of the schools lack
proper WASH facilities. It is also the case in many developing countries that
stigma, and lack of facilities, lead to low school attendance. A study of
‘adolescent girls in India found that a quarter of the girls did not attend
school during menstruation because of the lack of adequate toilets” (Van Eijk et al. 2016). In another study, it was found that 57%
of adolescent girls surveyed in South Sudan stayed home during menstruation
because of a lack of private places to change at school (Tamiru et al. 2015).
The goal of gender equality and the right to education is foiled in these
instances by inadequate WASH systems, lack of a supportive environment, and
community awareness.

Currently, 90% of sewage in developing countries is dumped untreated in
watercourses. This is without any of the ‘conventional’ sewage treatment
processes that are standard in developed states. The treatment and management
of sewage requires investment in sanitation services and education and
awareness programs for communities living near affected freshwater sources.
However, the lack of improved and safe sanitation services at home or within a
community is often a reason for watercourse contamination, and the use of the
contaminated water without proper treatment is a cause of disease and poor
health.

One example of a water-borne illness that spreads due to poor
sanitation, is cholera (among other diarrhoeal diseases), which is caused by
the consumption of water or food containing the bacterium Vibrio cholerae (WHO,
December 2024). The spread of cholera is associated with poor hygiene
practices, limited safe water access, and the lack of good sanitation
facilities (WHO, December 2024). “As of 2019 estimates, there are
9 million cases of typhoid fever annually, resulting in about 110,000
deaths per year. Typhoid risk is higher in populations that lack access to safe
water and adequate sanitation, and children are at highest risk” (WHO,
2023). Many vector-borne diseases spread due to stagnant and/or unclean water
located in the proximity of human populations. This is because, a prime carrier
of disease, mosquitoes, breed in such waters. The situations that lead to the
spread of these diseases, in other words, to a compromised WASH system are
varied, and could be due to the displacement of populations, climate-related
events such as floods and drought, a lack of financial means, and geographical
location of a community” (WHO, December 2024). However, investing in improved
sanitation in each of these situations is the first step in protecting the
health of communities.

Hygiene and a Just Society

Hygiene can be defined broadly as practices taken to keep yourself and
others healthy. These practices may necessarily extend beyond the individual to
their household, community and surrounding environment. The Centers for Disease
Control (CDC), of the United States of America, separates hygiene into four
main categories: personal hygiene, infant feeding hygiene, diaper hygiene and
everyday cleaning (CDC, 2024).

In terms of basic personal hygiene, as of 2022 WHO estimates that
approximately two billion “people lacked handwashing facilities with soap and
water at home” (WHO, 2024). Handwashing facilities are essential in the
prevention of hand-to-mouth transmitted diseases. Salmonella, meningitis, and
hepatitis are but a few diseases that pass from person to person, and can be
prevented from spreading with good hygiene (and systematic vaccination
programs). Incorporating handwashing facilities into community freshwater
upgrade projects would support the elimination of hand-to-mouth transmitted
diseases and also make the cleaning of cooking implements easier. Teaching the
making of soap using locally accessible ingredients can provide work and also
decrease the cost of soap, therefore making it more accessible. Educating
relevant communities on the harm of bathing, and the disposal of water used for
ablutions, in drinking sources is another way to reduce contamination of clean
water sources. By the same token, teaching that only flowing, or purified
water, should be used for personal hygiene purposes prevents the contraction of
disease from contaminated and/or polluted water.

Infant feeding hygiene, along with the administration of infant
vaccines, is key in preventing many diseases that cause infant deaths. Careful
cleaning of feeding implements and the hands of food providers decrease the
chance of diarrhoea-causing pathogens reaching infants. “Diarrhoeal disease is
the third leading cause of death in children 1-59 months of age” (WHO, March
2024). It is also the main cause of malnutrition in children under five years
of age (ibid). Many cases can be prevented with safe drinking water and good
everyday cleaning practices in the home.

Diaper hygiene has three parts to it. The first is the cleanliness of
the infant, and ensuring that the child has no contact with fecal matter. The
second is the care taken by the changer of diapers to wash their hands and any
materials that may have come in contact with fecal matter etc. The third
concerns the disposal of the diapers. As with menstrual sanitary products,
diapers make up a large portion of global landfills. The use of biodegradable
products, and the appropriate use and washing of re-usable diapers helps to
reduce the waste load of communities. In general terms a diaper is considered a
biological hazard, and much like healthcare related waste, communities need to
plan their disposal. In terms of cleanliness of the infants and the carers, proper
hand and cloth washing facilities are needed, as well as the availability of
soap as discussed earlier.

Health and the Right to
Safe and Decent Work

Although WASH does not explicitly use the word health in its acronym, it
is implied (It should be noted that some of the earliest uses of the acronym
WASH originally used ‘Health’ as the ‘H,’ but this was later changed to
‘Hygiene.’). The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as more than
just being free from disease or infirmity, but as a “state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being”. This holistic, cradle-to-the-grave,
approach is a foundation for the building of a just society, and only possible
with a strong WASH system.

The intimate relationship between sustainable development and public
health was highlighted during the Covid-19 global pandemic. The human impact of
the pandemic was devastating as it brought many communities to a standstill
which have yet to recover. The economic impact is also still being felt as
global supply chains continue to be disrupted, and lag behind demand.

The human right to safe and decent work is the emphasis of the ILO’s
commitment to “Social Justice for a Fair Globalization.” Part of this is the
commitment to ensuring that worker health is a primary concern of employers and
society in general. The relationship between health and economic growth is
well-documented. Research done by the McKinsey Global Institute estimates that
the global GDP reduces by 15% each year due to poor health (Remes, etal. 2020). However, the positive feedback loop of good
health and economic growth is such that: a healthy workforce leads to higher
productivity, greater participation in the workforce (and for longer), and
fewer days lost to medical leave. Thus, the investment in worker safety and
health reaps positive returns immediately. According to research, this can mean
that for every $ 1 USD invested in the health of a community, not just the
workers, $ 2.70 USD can be gained in economic benefits (MGI, 2024). Ensuring
the health of workers and the surrounding community is a pragmatic and mutually
beneficial goal. It contributes to a socially just society, where the
individual's health is prioritized and contributes to the goal of securing safe
and decent work for all.

Climate Change,
Water and the WASH System

Ensuring clean water, improved sanitation and hygiene for all is an
age-old challenge. Climate change driven by global warming, however, has made
the situation far more complex. changes in weather patterns and extreme
weather events have made rainfall less predictable. The melting of glaciers has
changed the timing of annual runoff, and also reduced the natural recharge of
surface waters and aquifers. The over-extraction of water from aquifers
(groundwater), has also led to a permanent decrease in water availability, a
concern considering that approximately a fifth of water used comes from
aquifers. Although shifts in water availability and flows are changing across
the globe, the severity of the change and the impact it has is geographically
and climatically dependent and vary from water basin to water basin.

Flooding is a boon for many countries, a periodic, predictable increase
in river swells, leading to well-irrigated fields and higher crop yields, for
example, in the Nile delta. With climate change, the intensity, frequency,
timing and location of flooding are worsening Uncontrolled, unusual flooding
poses a threat to lives and livelihoods. As devastating as floods can be, their
first victim is often sanitation infrastructure. Sewage system overflow and
other lavatory facilities being hit by the flood will spill waste into the
streets and contaminate freshwater sources. This contamination leads to the
direct transmission of disease and harmful substances and the increase of
vector-borne illness for the time it takes for all stagnant waters to clear in
the aftermath.

Along coastlines, sea-level rise is leading to inundation of saltwater
(saltwater intrusion), and the destruction of farmlands and freshwater
infrastructure. The salination of freshwater resources reduces the availability
of water for use in agriculture and for sanitation, hygiene, and living
requirements. Small Island States, many of which are on the list of the UN’s
Least Developed Countries (LDC), are at risk of losing their homes due to
climate change. Entire communities established on atolls are slowly being
submerged. Their case of being deprived of both home, livelihood, and
facilities is another clear example of why social justice needs to include
climate change as a concern for current and future generations and why the
approach of climate justice is useful.

The more arid regions of the world accustomed to periodic droughts are
seeing them occur more frequently and for longer stretches. Many LDCs exist in
the driest latitudes. Ensuring improved sanitation, hygiene and health is also
challenging in these communities with naturally scarce water availability. Just
as with flooding, extreme storms, and sea level rise, these changes in water
quality and quantity harm economic activity and livelihoods, and will affect
those already living in challenging circumstances the hardest, i.e., displaced
populations, the impoverished, children, aged and infirm. Escaping poverty is
highly linked to having adequate water for agricultural activities and
sufficient quantities close enough to home to allow for children, especially
girls, to attend school.

Discussion

The United Nations World Water Development Report 2020, Water and
Climate Change, states that the “challenges of development, poverty
eradication and sustainability are intricately interwoven with those of climate
change mitigation and adaptation, especially through water” (UNESCO, 2020).
Thus, establishing a just society centred around human rights needs to be
developed within our current climate-shifting context. Water is a common
element of concern across sectors, as the key to the WASH nexus and a basic
human right in and of itself.

Many practical and reasonable ways exist to address climate adaptation
for WASH systems. Although specific solutions vary depending on the
geographical and socioeconomic circumstances of each community, there are key
common elements. The first is looking for natural or nature-based solutions to
adaptation. Conservation measures that protect and repair existing wetlands are
one such approach. Wetlands are natural water purification systems and serve to
slow water flows. Agreements such as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
and the work of organisations such as the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), in this
area have demonstrated the value of wetlands in protecting communities from
disaster-level floods, creating new livelihood sources, and treating unclean
water. In general, greater biodiversity in areas around human populations leads
to greater resilience in the face of floods, droughts, and disease (of crops
and livestock especially). Wetlands also aid in the recharge of aquifers as
they slow water run-off. Creating wetlands around urban areas has also proven
beneficial for this purpose.  In general,
a healthy environment helps to protect the well-being of the community and
individuals physically and mentally. This is also one of the reasons behind the
Green Cities movement, which attempts to use nature-based solutions for urban
sanitation, water, air pollution and mental health concerns. Humanity's benefits
from nature, especially in its wilder forms, are broadly termed ecosystem
services. The discourse around ecosystem services mixes environmental rights
and human rights approaches. Placing the natural world at the base of social
justice and as a source of solutions for many human rights issues.

Whether in areas with relative water abundance or scarcity, water
reclamation is another method to improve access to clean water. When collected
and treated properly, wastewater, aka grey water, has many uses. If reclaimed
water is used to service the needs of industry and agriculture, it frees other
freshwater sources for WASH needs. Singapore’s stormwater collection and
wastewater treatment system is an example of innovation in water reuse, serving
a State with high water demands and not enough supply nationally. However, the
reclamation of water need not be only on such a grand scale. Rainwater
harvesting kits at the local level are another example. Investment in
sanitation and water infrastructure is essential in order to apply solutions
such as large water reclamation projects, creating artificial wetlands and
restoring existing wetlands. Other climate change adaptive, WASH-supporting
infrastructure solutions are, for example, the creation of covered reservoirs,
artificial recharge of existing aquifers, community and in-home toilet systems,
and water purification centres.

Education is an important tool in human rights efforts. Inversely,
education, as a human right itself, is required to create a just society. As
discussed, in the areas of sanitation and hygiene, at the community and
individual level, information campaigns to alleviate stigma and superstition
around menstrual hygiene would support school attendance amongst girls,
increase opportunities for women at work, and reduce the risks around specific
illnesses arising from inadequate menstrual products. Educating communities
about the risks associated with open defecation, and the entry of waste into
water sources have been successful, as witnessed in Nepal (Kendra etal, 2017), through the work of activists such as Shrestha
(also known as ‘Mr Toilet’), and UN-Habitat. A
community understanding the relationship between sanitation, hygiene and the
spread of disease is key.

Conclusions

“The Rockefeller Foundation-Lancet Commission on Planetary Health
recognizes that human health and the health of our planet are inextricably
linked[,] and that our civilization depends on human health, flourishing
natural systems, and the wise stewardship of natural resources. With natural
systems being degraded to an extent unprecedented in human history, both our
health and that of our planet are in peril” (UNFCCC, 2023).

The concept of
Planetary Health places health at the centre of the climate change discourse.
It also links intergenerational equity and environmental rights. Canadian
provincial healthcare organisations such as those of Ontario and British
Columbian (PHC, 2024), along with Britain’s National Healthcare Service (NHS),
have adopted Planetary Health as a core ethos. These organisations look for
ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change by reducing their emissions and
waste while growing sustainably to face future challenges. Movements such as
planetary health at the institutional level encapsulate the linkage between
social justice, climate change and WASH. The spreading of this type of framing
across national, and sub-national, healthcare bodies internationally would be a
significant step in the right direction.

As stated by WHO,
globally there is a need to speed-up progress in the realm of WASH. 2.8 billion
people still living without improved sanitation (WHO 2022) in five years is too
significant a number. The inequality of investment in this sector per/capita
globally is a large part of the reason. This disparity is caused by both
existing global economic inequalities and the geo-economic goals of many
national development funds. However, the lack of, or inefficiency of existing
sanitation infrastructure is only a part of the equation in regions of water
scarcity. Thus, access to reliable and safe drinking water, and water for
hygiene purposes, is a problem to be resolved in tandem. The linking of these
issues through the WASH nexus approach needs to be incorporated into all
development projects that touch on either element. National policy needs to
incorporate this nexus approach into the development of their future plans for
development. These policies should include education programs that stress the
interrelation of health, water, sanitation, hygiene and climate change impacts.

Climate risk adaptation
measures, like disaster risk measures, need have WASH at the center of
discussions. Visa versa, WASH as a nexus entirely needs a more prominent
position in the climate debate. The stress that climate change places on
national and local WASH systems is a concern for developing and developed
countries alike. Sharing of research on the enhancement of WASH systems is key
and self-serving. In a globalized world of cross border movement, ensuring the
resilience of neighbouring and regional WASH systems aids in the prevention of,
and the spread of pandemics.

Acknowledgements

The
completion of this article would not have been possible without the support and
patience of my colleagues and friends at GMPA, Patrick A. Taran and Olga Kadysheva. Their encouragement and faith were instrumental
in the finishing this work.

I would
also like to acknowledge the valuable time working with forward-thinking and
proactive colleagues Anthony Munster, Executive Director of projects, Planning
and Facilities, and Mehrdad Gharibnavaz, Energy
Manager on Planetary Health making healthcare more sustainable, at
Providence Health Care (PHC), in B.C, Canada, who gave me innumerable insights
into the connectivity of the WASH system and climate change.

Special
thanks also to the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations (GSD)
for incorporating my Blue Diplomacy course into their curriculum and believing
in the need to educate our future leaders and diplomats on the importance of
WASH.

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