水紛争を持続可能な開発目標に沿った形で解決できるか

抄録

This article explores the conditions under which conflicts over water resources are resolved in a sustainable, democratic, and participatory manner. Water conflicts often get intense because the meaning and values of water differ considerably depending on the actors in conflict. Water can be considered as an essential component of the natural environment and biodiversity, as indispensable public goods supporting people’s everyday lives, as a precious source of energy and economic development, or as a fountain of communal identities and cultures. How to resolve water conflicts through dialogue rather than force while ensuring the democratic participation of diverse actors with conflicting values and interests? Using Global Atlas of Environmental Justice (EJAtlas), a database of environmental disputes, we extract 26 water conflicts in Latin America between 1991 and 2021 and apply a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to identify the conditions or causal pathways leading to sustainable and democratic outcomes. The result indicates that the existence of “brokers” capable of encouraging dialogues between opposing forces (e.g., between economic developers and local residents)—is an essential, if not sufficient, condition. We also discuss the implications of the findings and future tasks.