An Urgent Call on the Protection of Water Infrastructure as Indispensable Civilian Assets

GeSI Public Statement on the Protection of Global Water Infrastructure 

Date: March 22, 2026 (World Water Day) 

To: The International Community 

From: Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI)

Water is the foundation of life, health, and sustainable development. In regions where freshwater is scarce, desalination plants are not merely industrial facilities—they are lifelines, providing clean drinking water to millions and underpinning entire societies. Nowhere is this more critical than in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, where desalination accounts for up to 99% of the drinking water supply for tens of millions of people. 

GeSI is gravely concerned by the emerging threats to desalination infrastructure in the GCC and around the world. Reports of indirect damage to plants in Kuwait and the UAE, coupled with explicit threats of deliberate targeting, represent a direct assault on the most fundamental of human rights: the right to clean water, as enshrined in the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 and protected by international humanitarian law. 

Attacking, destroying, or rendering useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population—including drinking water installations—is strictly prohibited under the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions. Such acts constitute war crimes. The UN Security Council has further reinforced this obligation through Resolution 2573 (2021) on the Protection of Objects Indispensable to the Survival of the Civilian Population and Resolution 2417 (2018) on the protection of water systems in conflict. 

March 22 was the World Water Day. As a leading, global cross-industry sustainability initiative, creating and enabling digital solutions to address society’s most pressing challenges, GeSI stands united in its call for the immediate and unwavering protection of all water infrastructure worldwide. We demand that desalination plants, water treatment facilities, and related systems be recognized as protected civilian infrastructure, placed entirely beyond the reach of military targeting, and safeguarded under all applicable frameworks of international law. 

Water transcends conflict. It is a shared resource essential for all life. The international community has a legal obligation and a moral duty to defend it. GeSI calls upon all nations, international organizations, and stakeholders to uphold this principle and take decisive action to prevent any further harm to these critical lifelines.