We’ve grown accustomed to capitalism’s insatiable drive to privatize everything, but the phrase “privatization of water” is one that many of us find particularly galling. How can such a basic resource be captured by a small handful of corporations to produce profit for a few at the expense of every single person on the planet?

Yet the privatization of water is expanding across the globe, and with devastating effects: waste dumping in the Global South, sewage leakages into water bodies supplying poorer communities, and ongoing shortages — all during the greatest climate crisis humans have ever seen. Fresh water supplies are drying up rapidly, with climate change as a driving force behind the rising sea levels and altered physical borders. Meanwhile, water demand is expected to increase by 55 percent by the year 2050 — made particularly alarming at a time of worldwide water shortages due to the increased demand for water and sanitation services during the pandemic. Service providers require a continuous supply of chemicals needed for water and wastewater testing and treatment, posing challenges in countries where wastewater treatment remains limited. In Arab countries such as Yemen, water stress has risen, owing to increased allocation of water resources to the agriculture sector to offset lower food exports by food-producing countries.

COVID-19 may produce an increase in water privatization. In fact, many national governments and even public health institutions are using the crisis to promote private-sector takeovers in water and sanitation. This can be seen in countries like Brazil, where privatization will inevitably lead to lower distribution of water in the country’s poorer areas. Ironically, this type of action has been supported by large multilateral organizations that have huge influence in the field.