Using a human rights approach to improve hotels’ water use and sustainability

Abstract

This article explores the intersect between the human right to water, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the reality of hotels water use. Our qualitative study was based on semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and focus groups with hoteliers, government agencies and community stakeholders in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It examines the challenges faced by hoteliers to respect the human right to water and why hotels do not voluntarily adopt the Guiding Principles. The impeding factors identified include a lack of awareness, a lack of substantive voluntary schemes, the water tariff, the absence of data management; return on investment, profit and public image prioritized over environmental considerations; and inadequate regulations and their enforcement. Our study also indicates the potential of combining a human right to water impact assessment within the existing EIA to reform hotels water management and improve their water stewardship. In doing so, hotel water management would move beyond the domain of the hotel to consider their impact on the local community. This, the first study to take a human rights-based approach to the study of hotel’s water use, also identifies the further research required on this topic: legal enforcement and community participation.