Is water a ressources like any other?

Last March, Antonio Guterres called for water to be placed “at the centre of the global political agenda”. Progressive pricing, sobriety, modernisation of infrastructures, agriculture, storage – these are all challenges facing the world’s territories in the light of the climate crisis. For some, the expertise and role of private actors remain major for water management. For others, water remains a common good to be protected from private actors. In this context, water resources are becoming a growing concern and their management is divisive. Public good or private good? On the one hand, water has been recognised as a fundamental human right since 2010 by the United Nations. On the other hand, it is perceived as a financial asset whose value can be directly translated into 21st century “blue gold”. If the management of water depends on the way it is used and accessed, what value should be attributed to it? Is it a market value that must be subject to the rules of the market? Or as a common good and a fundamental right essential to life?