Constitutional Insights #2

Water: Commodity or Common Good?

By Luis Fernando Priolli

In the early hours of February 28, the United States and Israel launched a military offensive against Iranian targets, including key leadership figures, prompting an immediate response from Iran.

Since the Islamic Revolution (1979), there has been intense rivalry between Israel and Iran; however, an open war such as the one currently unfolding is unprecedented and may, as the conflict develops, lead to the involvement of other countries, potentially escalating into a global-scale war.

Every war brings significant and long-lasting impacts, regardless of its scale or underlying motives. Armed conflicts result in: (i) loss of life (both military personnel and civilians), long-term psychological trauma, mass displacement, and refugee crises; (ii) destruction of urban infrastructure, including housing, schools, hospitals, industrial facilities, transportation networks, and other essential structures; and (iii) social and economic crises, leading to increased inflation, poverty, social instability, and widespread human rights violations.

Even in times of war, however, certain rules must be observed. These rules are collectively referred to as the Law of War (International Humanitarian Law), which comprises international norms primarily based on the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949. It’s purpose is to prohibit certain acts and methods of warfare, limit hostilities, and ensure the protection of civilians, the wounded, and prisoners of war. These rules also prohibit attacks against, destruction of, or damage to infrastructure indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, including drinking water facilities and irrigation systems.

Article 54(2) of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions states:

            “It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as foodstuffs, agricultural areas for the production of foodstuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works, for the specific purpose of denying them for their sustenance value to the civilian population or to the adverse Party, whatever the motive, whether in order to starve out civilians, to cause them to move away, or for any other motive.”

Nevertheless, last week Iran and Bahrain reported attacks on desalination infrastructure — facilities essential for water supply — creating a serious risk to regional water security and raising concerns about the use of water as a “weapon of war.”

The desalination plant on Qeshm Island in Iran, which supplies several Iranian villages, as well as another desalination facility in Bahrain, were reportedly damaged. These installations are crucial for water provision, representing a serious escalation with potential risks to civilian survival.

Such attacks inevitably place this resource at the center of governmental concern, as the United Nations (UN) considers water a strategic natural resource, essential for life, economic stability, and global security—not merely a commercial commodity.

Recently, the UN warned that the world has entered an era of “global water bankruptcy,” caused by human activities that have altered the water cycle and compromised the reliability of water availability. Currently, around 4 billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that this scarcity could affect up to two-thirds of the world’s population by 2050.

In response, the UN General Assembly declared in 2010 that clean and safe drinking water and sanitation are essential human rights, emphasizing that water is a common good rather than a commodity, and warning against its financialization or treatment as a mere market product. Nevertheless, due to increasing scarcity, water is also treated as a commodity and traded in financial markets, generating debates about equitable access.

In Brazil, Law No. 9,433/1997 defines water as a public resource with economic value, but establishes that its priority use is human consumption, in line with the UN’s understanding that water should not be managed solely through a market-oriented approach, but rather prioritized as a resource essential to life.

Despite this framework, water has been priced in financial markets, with water futures contracts traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 2020, allowing financial speculation regarding its future value. This reflects the fact that water is fundamentally a limited natural resource whose price is influenced by climate variability, demand, and energy production.

Water is therefore treated as a commodity in financial markets, particularly due to its scarcity—only about 1% of the planet’s water is potable—which increases its economic value and attracts financial investment. However, there remains significant tension between the perspective of water as a human right (implying universal access) and its comodityfication, which may hinder access for vulnerable populations. While international institutions emphasize water as a common good and a heritage of humanity, financial markets tend to treat it as a scarce economic asset.

Whether in Brazil or globally, it is essential that public policies governing water management and use be effective, coordinated, and sustainable. Water scarcity is not merely a natural phenomenon but also a consequence of mismanagement, river pollution, and deforestation.

Addressing these challenges is crucial to achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which aims to ensure access to safe water and sanitation for all by 2030. This requires coordinated public policies among different levels of government—federal, state, and municipal—to avoid overlapping or ineffective actions, adopting the river basin as the primary planning unit and protecting forests and water resources in order to mitigate droughts and floods.