Water as a common good? Academic differences and their impact on the 2023 United Nations Water Conference

Abstract

Numerous statements referring to water as a common good accompanied the 2023 United Nations Water Conference. However, people seem to have a different understanding of what is at stake and different intentions when using the same concepts. These discrepancies could be explained by the academic differences between economists, lawyers, and human rights activists which are presented in the first part of the research. Successively, in order to assess the impact of academic peculiarities in such a high-level event, a list of quotes from influential sources related to the conference has been compiled and analyzed. The findings cannot be interpreted as a robust indication about the influence of different disciplines during the Water Conference, since this work relies on a limited number of quotes only. Still, it has been possible to identify patterns among speakers which correspond to academic differences. In conclusion, a more collective engagement in defining terms is needed for the sake of effectiveness in addressing water-related challenges at all levels.