Specific objective v. Promoting access to water and sustainable water management

Key questions for analysing the environmental impact on water quality and water management

  • Does the policy affect drinking water resources, particularly their quality?
  • Does the policy decrease or increase the quality or quantity of freshwater and groundwater?

Gender considerations

Unequal access to good-quality water and to wastewater treatment infrastructures can have adverse health and social effects.[1] Even if full coverage of high-quality water is reported for many EU Member States, some such as Bulgaria, still present small inequalities in coverage, particularly in rural areas.[2]

The increasing frequency and intensity of drought episodes caused by climate change pose a challenge to water management in a growing number of EU regions.[3] When it comes to water management and water management measures in industrialised regions, women tend to think primarily in domestic terms (i.e. reduce domestic consumption and increase household efficiency) whereas men prioritise the efficiency of irrigation systems. The fact that women are more likely to choose saving water in the domestic sphere is linked with less dedication to the agricultural sector and farm business property and less knowledge of water-allocation policies than men, which may result in women being left out of water governance, decision-making and the solutions to water scarcity.[4]

  • Does the policy affect social and gender inequalities in access to and use of good-quality water?
  • Have sex-disaggregated health-related data been used to understand the socioeconomic barriers to safe drinking water, if applicable?
  • Who will benefit from new or upgraded capacity for wastewater treatment? Will women and men, from different socioeconomic groups, benefit to the same extent?
  • Will both women and men participate in any possible consultations that might be held regarding water infrastructures and water management?

Questions about impact of intervention on soil quality with gender considerations

Key questions for analysing the environmental impact on soil quality

  • Does the policy affect soil quality or result in a loss of soil carbon stocks or a decline in soil biodiversity, compaction, sealing, landslides, acidification,
  • Does it lead to a loss of available soil (e.g. through building or construction works, including land sealing) or increase the amount of usable soil (e.g. through land decontamination)?
  • Does the policy lead to and use change?

Gender considerations

Healthy soils are critical to agricultural productivity and climate change mitigation and resilience, and a range of ecosystem services depend on them.[5] Regenerative agriculture has been found to be an important part of the solution to tackling soil degradation, favouring carbon sequestration. According to certain research evidence, soil health management practices, such as regenerative techniques, can be gendered.[6] Nevertheless, research is still lacking in the EU context.

  • Does the policy recognise any differences in sustainable agricultural practices between women farmers and men famers, particularly those relating to soil management?
  • Are gender disparities in access to resources, decision-making and participation in sustainable agriculture and management considered?
  • Will both women and men participate in any consultations that might be held regarding agriculture, soil and land use?