WATER FOR LIFE: NATURAL RESOURCE AND ESSENTIAL HUMAN RIGHTS TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT1

The alarming and increasing scarcity of drinking water on the planet adds a new paradigm in the international legal scene, in order to protect human life and ensure the promotion of quality of life for present and future generations as a form of sustainable development, that is, the paradigm of the human right to water. Thus, this article aims to present, through the evolution of the environmental theme in the international scenario, in view of the consideration of water as an objective of sustainable development in the UN 2030 Agenda, the new conception of the right to water, from the recognition of the right to the healthy environment, both being human rights, essential to the quality of life and the dignity of human life. Finally, to conclude that, although the right to water is not yet recognized as a human right in the Brazilian legal system, there is a growing mobilization in this regard in the national scenario. The methodology used was based on a qualitative approach to the problem, being a research of exploratory nature, using the methodological procedure of bibliographical and documentary research, through the analysis of doctrines, documents, legislation and other scientific texts related to the subject.

Therefore, over 15 years, the objectives and goals set in the above-mentioned document by the Member States should be observed. Among the 17 objectives, the sixth one is the availability of drinking water to all as a goal to achieve sustainable development and, thus, the effective dignity of life for men. It is about this objective that the present work intends to delineate.
This article aims to present the identification of the human right to water, starting from the understanding of the human right to the healthy environment, considering the recognition of access to drinking water as an objective of sustainable development in the UN 2030 Agenda.
In the first instance, it will be demonstrated that treating water as an essential right to the maintenance of life is essential for the promotion of human dignity is a recent discussion. In the global scenario, in the mid-1970s, attention was drawn to the water issue by the States, especially in relation to the meetings of the members of the United Nations (UN), reverberated only the idea of attention to vol. 11, nº 4. ISSN 2317-7721 DOI: 10.12957/rdc.2019 _____________________________________________________________________ Revista de Direito da Cidade, vol. 11, nº 4. ISSN 2317-7721. pp. 302-321 304 the finitude of water resources and the concern with such interference in the economy, given the valorization of the right to development.
The intention of international bodies to discuss the exhaustion of natural resources, and especially with regard to water, denotes the paradigm shift that occurred during the 20th century and will be explained in the second part of this article, when environmental causes began to occupy important spaces in the face of discussions at the world summits, which until then were marked by negotiations on essentially economic and social matters, without real consideration of environmental issues.
However, in spite of the progress of the discussions on the environment in the world scenario, there was no understanding at the time of the indispensability of the recognition of water as a human right, necessary for the perpetuation of life. However, this position has been altered and this new panorama, which reveals a growing acceptance of water as a human right, is inserted in the context of the recognition of the human right to the healthy environment or even belonging to a new dimension of fundamental rights, it will be approached in the final part of this work.
For the purposes intended in this paper, a qualitative approach will be performed, being a research of exploratory nature, using the methodological procedure of the bibliographical research, through the analysis of doctrines, legislation and other scientific texts related to the theme to present some discussions on the theme of water which permeated the debates between the UN member states during the 1970s and 1990s, providing a change of vision on the subject, culminating in the current panorama of recognition of water as a human right, fundamental to life and human dignity, just as the right to a healthy environment is now understood, identifying water as a necessary objective for the sustainable development of the planet.

ENVIRONMENT AND WATER ON THE INTERNATIONAL POST-WAR AGENDA
After the two great world wars, in 1914 and 1939, the world scenario was one of horror and devastation in the face of the consequences of these two war periods the mankind went through.
Destroyed cities, decimated populations, homeless people, to name just a few of the endless sequels of this phase. This conference became a milestone in the history of the evolution of environmental consideration on the international agenda. According to Ana Paula Liberato (2010), it was at this conference that the international community began to observe the level of environmental degradation occasioned by the economic development project intended by the countries.
The final document, the "Declaration of the Environment", proclaims in its first principle the fundamental right of man "To the enjoyment of adequate living conditions in an environment of such quality as to enable them to lead a dignified life and enjoy well-being, with a solemn obligation to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations" (BRASIL, 1972).
It is observed, therefore, the consideration of the healthy and balanced environment as a fundamental right of the human person, taking into account their protection in order to secure the quality of life, from the preservation of nature and the maintenance of the ecological balance (SILVA, 2010). It should be noted that "the direct concern was not with the environment itself, but with the development of the countries that were part of that Conference" (LIBERATO, 2010, p. 21).
With regard to water, it is worth mentioning that the second principle is the preservation of natural resources such as air, water, soil, flora and fauna from a "careful thought or planning" in order to be protected for the benefit of the next generations (BRASIL, 1972).
In this way, attention to water was related to the factor of the finitude of its resources for the maintenance of present and future human life and not properly to a value as a fundamental right as such.
In 1977, the first specific international conference on water took place in Argentina, the United Nations Conference on Water. The conference decided on the plan of action to be undertaken by the states to provide drinking water, as well as guidelines on water use in agriculture and mechanisms for promoting basic sanitation for the populations. The final conference document also proclaimed: All peoples, whatever their stage of development and their social and economic conditions, have the right to have access to drinking water in quantities and of a quality equal to their basic needs [...] It is universally recognized, that the availability to man of that resource is essential both for life and his full development, both as an individual and as an integral part of society (INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW RESEARCH CENTER, 1977). In view of this, it is inferred the beginning of the change of heart of the powerful countries over water, consecrating its access of quality and in sufficient quantity to the satiety of human needs as a right of all peoples.
Another important water-related milestone on the international scene came from the UN designation of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade from 1981 to 1990, in which the Member States have resolved "accelerate substantially the pace of their programmes for drinking-water supply and sanitation through the adoption of relevant policies and their implementation through plans aimed at covering the total population" (WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, 1981).
Also in the 1990s, an International Conference on Water and Environment was held in Dublin, Ireland, to discuss new approaches, development, and management of freshwater resources.
According to the conference resolution, the implementation of these new approaches would require political commitment and the involvement of the highest levels of government with the smaller communities.
A commitment will need to be backed by substantial and immediate investments, public awareness campaigns, legislative and institutional changes, technology development, and capacity building programmes. Underlying all these must be greater recognition of the interdependence of all peoples, and of their place in the natural world (UN, 1992). The idea of internal cooperation between the State and communities for the maintenance of water quality and for water security of the populations is present in this text, thus affirming the importance of water in public policies with a view to enhancing the dignity of the human person.
In Rio de Janeiro, in 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development also brought important advances in the disclosure of water as a natural resource necessary for all aspects of life. At this conference, attention was drawn to the problems of water scarcity from climate change, air pollution, and poor water management. The final report of the conference, Agenda 21, contains 18 chapters on guidelines for the protection of the quality and supply of water resources, and ensures as a general objective the maintenance of an adequate supply of good quality water for the entire population of the planet, together with the preservation of the hydrological, biological and chemical functions of ecosystems, adapting human activities to the limits of nature's capacity and combating vectors of water-related diseases (ONU, 1995).
Given the importance of water, with regard to human health, development and social wellbeing, observed in the international discussions of the twentieth century presented above, at the turn of the millennium (2000), the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were presented which contain a direct link to the efficient supply and quality of water supply in many of their objectives (ONU, 2018).
Although there is no explicit mention of water among the MDGs, the importance of maintaining The UN Millennium Development Goals Report, released in 2015, reveals that of the "2.6 billion people who have gained access to improved drinking water since 1990, 1.9 billion gained access to potable water on the spot and that by 2015, 91% of the world's population uses an improved source of drinking water, compared to 76% in 1990" (UNRIC, 2015, p.7).

DEVELOPMENT, SUSTAINABILITY, AND ENVIRONMENT: WATER AS A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL
The understanding of the possibility of an economic development allied to the idea of sustainability has come a long way until it becomes the concept that today bases the future plan outlined by the UN with Agenda 2030 and its objectives of sustainable development.
As presented earlier, the Stockholm Conference is a milestone in the history of valuing the environment in the international arena. However, despite highlighting environmental issues in global discussions, the conference still had at its core concerns of a predominantly economic bias linked to the right to development. Thus, the protection of the environment has assumed an important role in the right to development, consubstantiating it with sustainable bias, in view of the need to reconcile economic progress with the environment. All this from the understanding that man's activities in relation to production and consumption must respect nature's capacity for resilience, guaranteeing the continuity of natural resources and preventing future generations from being denied the right to satisfy their own needs (RESENDE, 2015).
As a result of this new vision that combines economic progress and environmental responsibility, the UN presented, in 2015, the document "Transforming Our World: The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, "whose 17 sustainable development goals (SDG) and 169 targets show an ambitious plan for the future.
The ambition is in the attempt to achieve full sustainable development and the eradication of poverty in all its forms for the realization of human rights from the fulfillment of the objectives listed in Regarding the term sustainable development, it is worth presenting the positioning of Juarez Freitas (2016, p. 57) in defending the best use of the term sustainability in substitution to that one, since for the author "sustainability is that it must adjectivate, condition and infuse its characteristics to the development, never the contrary".
In line with this vision, Leite and Caetano (2010)  Following the guidelines drawn up in 1992, the perception of the need for water resources management is also present in Agenda 2030, which includes an extension of this thinking to cover crossborder cooperation in this regard.
As mentioned earlier, Agenda 2030 is an ambitious document and as far as water is concerned there is a challenge for the Member States to meet this objective by 2030. They aim to achieve universal and equitable access to safe drinking water, improve water quality, reduce pollution, increase the efficiency of water use in all sectors, and secure and sustainable withdrawals and fresh water supply to address water scarcity and reduce the number of people suffering from this problem (BRASIL, 2015).
Contrary to the wishes of the States, the UN released the United Nations World Report on Water Resources Development in the first half of 2018, which shows worrisome data regarding the consumption of water on the planet.
Regardless of efforts to implement water resources management measures, the report points to the increasing global demand for water of around 1% a year and to the rapidly increasing demand for water in homes and industries in relation to the growth of demand in agriculture, but the agricultural sector will continue to be the largest consumer (UNESCO, 2018).
Thus, it is observed that the economy is still a decisive factor in the sustainability model that is intended for the planet, considering that the impact of the economic sectors in the water management reveals itself from this report as an obstacle to the fulfillment of the promises of the Agenda 2030 by the countries.
Likewise, the water crisis that is taking place on the planet jeopardizes the promotion of a decent life for men, since the shortage of water in the different regions makes it impossible to enjoy conditions of quality of life and prevent the complete sustainable human development.

RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT AND THE RIGHT TO WATER: HUMAN RIGHTS
The scarcity of potable water in the world and the crisis in the management of water resources, as well as the lack of awareness of the population about the proper use of this natural resource, demanded the need to glimpse a new right, fundamental to the maintenance of human life: the right to water.
The new rights arise from the social changes that occur over the years in the history of humanity. Thus, the emergence of the human rights that until today is under construction, because its demand is extended as the social and cultural events develop.
Thus, for example, the emergence of international human rights law, postwar law, is understood by the way it was conceived in the face of the realities brought about by the Second World War, immersed in a context of loss of rights, social devastation of countries and financial recession.
According to Resende (2015), human rights emerged at the end of World War II to protect human dignity, threatened by the warlike episodes facing humanity.
The evolution of this right towards the States can be seen from its strengthening resulting from This change of paradigm in relation to human rights as an object of global protection, corroborated by the emergence of a specific international right to safeguard them, also brought about changes of internal paradigms in the States belonging to its global, regional and local systems, since it promoted the active position of these States in the promotion of human rights internally, in order to achieve an international standard of protection.
It is from this idea of unicity, indivisibility of human rights at the global level, with the work of 313 its agents at international, regional and national level, being they States, companies, NGOs and individuals, which is based on the concept of environmental citizenship brought by Canotilho (2010)  It is thus observed that the paradigm change in the way the states communicated and related after the post-war period contributed to an ecological change, making possible the protection of the most effective environment of global action, in the same way that international human rights law made possible the strengthening of democracies and propitiates to date the evolution of these states, marked so recently by dictatorial periods that have tarnished its development.
Given the importance of the discussions on the international scene about the environment and its influence on the internal organization of countries, José Afonso da Silva (2010, p. 69-70)  It is also worth mentioning Edis Milaré's understanding that the right to a healthy environment is an extension of the right to life, having two aspects, both that focuses on the physical existence and health of human beings, as well as on the dignity of this existence, what is called "quality of life", being the meaning of what is worth living (RESENDE, 2015, p. 85).
In view of this, the human right to a healthy environment is now a third dimension right among fundamental rights, included in the rights of fraternity, considering the characteristic of not belonging to the individual man, but possess collective, transindividual (RESENDE, 2015).
According to Clara , these third-dimensional rights result from the process of globalization and its positivation is still in progress, considering the transformations that occur continuously in society.
It is in this context that the right to water is inserted, whose need for recognition is due to the changes in society in regard to drinking water supply, where the scarcity of quality and quantity water generated the inevitability of being positive in the international law scenario, indispensable for the dignified human life.
Thus, there is an increase in the role of human rights, in the face of the emergence of the right to water, which is integrated with third-dimensional rights and part of the right to the environment ecologically balanced.
There is a part of the doctrine that understands the existence of the sixth dimension of relative fundamental rights in which the right to water should be highlighted. According to Fachin and Silva (2011), water should be highlighted and built on a plan that justifies the birth of a new dimension of fundamental rights. According to the authors, the scarcity of drinking water, its poor distribution, its unregulated use and pollution in its various forms have the force to share new fundamental rights.
Regarding the international scope, the recognition of water as a human right can be identified In Brazil, there is still no recognition of the rights of nature as the countries previously mentioned already do, nor is there specific constitutional provision on water as a fundamental right, but this natural resource receives constitutional treatment as a good of the Union and States, in Title III, of the State Organization, Chapter II (BRASIL, 1988).
However, it is observed that the country has been advancing in the theme of the recognition The Declaration 5 recognizes the human right to water and states as the first principle: The human right to water and sanitation must be recognized and applied in its maximum effectiveness by all public and private spheres of power, and it is a necessary condition for the promotion of another individual, social and cultural human rights, and logical presupposition respect for the dignity of the people (MINISTÉRIO PÚBLICO FEDERAL, 2018). After all, "drinking water is absolutely necessary for the realization of the essential minimum for a dignified life, that is to say, of the existential minimum, since without it, not even physical survival is guaranteed, as far as life with dignity is concerned." (RESENDE, 2017, p. 275).
Another Brazilian initiative that highlights the importance of water in the respect of human dignity, as well as of other forms of life, is evidenced in the Projeto Conexão Água 6 , also on the initiative 4 This information was provided during a speech of Dr. Ivana Farina, at the 23rd Congress of Environmental Law, held in São Paulo, from May 26 to 30 2018. 5 The declaration lists ten principles: the defense of water as a human right; water and the ecological function of properties; the right to water for indigenous people and traditional populations; water as an element of social inclusion; water governance; water from the perspective of prevention and precaution; the principle in dubio for Water; the importance of the polluter-payer and user-payer relationship; water and environmental integration; and the relationship between water and justice access. 6 The presentation of the work of the Water Connection Project was carried out by Dr. 320 project is to encourage social control and participatory management of water, providing the people with the role of the actor of effective changes towards public health and environmental harmony, respecting all forms of life.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
The consideration of the environment, as well as its conception as a human right, essential to the quality of life and the promotion of human dignity, on the international scene, has occurred in a sensitive and progressive way from the 70's to the present day.
In this evolution of the understanding of the environment by the states, the UN action that since its creation in 1983 promoted world conferences that highlighted the environmental theme and provided the construction of the model of the human right to the healthy environment that exists today internationally.
Allied to the human right to the ecologically balanced environment, it is evident the increasing progress of the valorization of water as a human right also is fundamental to human dignity. This conception has been diffused from the observation of the need to elevate to the global discussions on the theme water, in view of the problems of scarcity, mismanagement and water crisis that appear around the world.
This change of paradigm in relation to water has occurred in a gradual way, considering the several conferences organized by the UN in the past decades and reinforced increasingly in the present time.
Specific global water meetings, as well as the designations of international water decades from 1981 to 1990, from 2005 to 2015, and more recently from 2018 to 2028 were essential to change the design in the way the water as a human right necessary for the dignified life of men.
The very recognition of water as a human right in the body of the United Nations Development Although in the Brazilian case, there is still no mention of such human rights, there is the appreciation of water in the list of human rights in Latin American countries, such as Bolivia and Ecuador. This, therefore, evidences the possibility of a future transformation of the way the right to water in the Brazilian scenario is conceived.
Examples of this can already be seen in the work of the Brazilian Federal Public Prosecutor's Prosecutor's Declaration on the Right to Water, demonstrate compliance with the evolution of discussions on water in neighboring countries and around the world.
In the face of all that has been exposed, it is noted that the right to water is already recognized at the international level, despite the fact that Brazil is still against this understanding, and that this is due to the increase in environmental and more specifically water-related issues in the context of UN discussions that reinforced and culminated in the perception of the importance of water as a sustainable development objective of Agenda 2030 for the future of the planet.