Water Justice and its Dynamic Links to Water Resource Management, Water Security and Conflict in Nigeria

Climate justice is a new issue in terms of its aim to resolve an emerging and very complex set of problems, including woman empowerment, health and economic development, food and poverty, security and conflict. In addition, the added stressor of climate change is exacerbating deficiencies, particularly in the developing world. One of the key components to ensuring climate justice is the provision of safe and reliable water and sanitation services which, as agreed for the first time by the UN Congress in 2010, is a basic human right and forms part of SDG6.

This qualitative, ethnographic study explores water justice and the ethical issues that contribute to increasing water insecurity, exacerbated by climate change impacts and seeks to identify barriers to water and sanitation access and different approaches to water management, based on work carried out in Nigeria. It was identified that increasing economic water scarcity, globally and in Nigeria, is due to poor water management and resource insufficiency that has resulted from neo-liberalist policies that left governments in the developing world unable to provide water for all. Increasing populations, rapid urbanization, industrialization and deforestation, in addition to the effects of climate change have stalled efforts to modernize economies and achieve the infrastructure, technology and educational developments required to underpin climate and water justice, reduce conflict and ensure water security.

Keywords: Water resource management; Climate justice; Water security; Water conflict