>From: "Mark Jones" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "L-i" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Report Summary > > > >THE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS AND THE >COMMODIFICATION OF THE WORLD'S WATER SUPPLY >By Maude Barlow >Chair, IFG Committee on the Globalization of Water >National Chair, Council of Canadians > >June 1999 >A Special Report >Produced and Published by >the International Forum on Globalization (IFG) > > > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >---- > >"The wars of the next century will be about water." > � The World Bank > >REPORT SUMMARY > >We'd like to believe there's an infinite supply of fresh water on the >planet. But the assumption is tragically false. Available fresh water >amounts to less than one half of one percent of all the water on Earth. The >rest is sea water, or is frozen in the polar ice. Fresh water is renewable >only by rainfall, at the rate of 40-50,000 cubic km per year. > >Global consumption of water is doubling every 20 years, more than twice the >rate of human population growth. According to the United Nations, more than >one billion people on Earth already lack access to fresh drinking water. If >current trends persist, by 2025 the demand for fresh water is expected to >rise by 56 percent more than is currently available. > >As the water crisis intensifies, governments around the world � under >pressure from multinational corporations � are advocating a radical >solution: the commodification and mass transport of water. Proponents of >commodification, and subsequent privatization, say that such a system is the >only way to distribute water to the world's thirsty. But, in fact, >experience shows that selling water on the open market does not address the >needs of poor, thirsty people. On the contrary, privatized water is >delivered to those who can pay for it, such as wealthy cities and >individuals and water intensive industries such as agriculture and >high-tech. As one resident of the high desert in New Mexico observed after >his community's water was diverted for use by the high-tech industry: "Water >flows uphill to money." > >The push to commodify water comes at a time when the social, political and >economic impacts of water scarcity are rapidly becoming a destabilizing >force, with water-related conflicts springing up around the globe. For >example, Malaysia, which supplies about half of Singapore's water, >threatened to cut off that supply in 1997 after Singapore criticized its >government policies. In Africa, relations between Botswana and Namibia have >been severely strained by Namibian plans to construct a pipeline to divert >water from the shared Okavango River to eastern Namibia. Much has been >written about the potential for water wars in the Middle East, where water >resources are severely limited. The late King Hussein of Jordan once said >the only thing he would go to war with Israel over was water because Israel >controls Jordan's water supply. > >Meanwhile, the future of one of the earth's most vital resources is being >determined by those who profit from its overuse and abuse. At the annual >World Economic Development Congress, which follows the annual International >Monetary Fund/World Bank meeting, corporations and financial institutions >met with government representatives from more than 84 countries to attend >panels on such subjects as "Overcoming Obstacles to Water Investment" and >"Navigating Transparency and Banking Regulation in Emerging Capital >Markets." The agenda was clear: water should be treated like any other >tradable good, with its use determined by market principles. > >At the same time, governments are signing away their control over domestic >water supplies by participating in trade treaties such as the North American >Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and institutions such as the World Trade >Organization (WTO). These agreements effectively give transnational >corporations the unprecedented right to the water of signatory countries. > >Already, corporations have started to sue governments in order to gain >access to domestic water sources. For example, Sun Belt, a California >company, is suing the government of Canada under NAFTA because British >Columbia (B.C.) banned water exports several years ago. The company claims >that B.C.'s law violates several NAFTA-based investor rights and therefore >is claiming US$220 million in compensation for lost profits. > >With the protection of these international trade agreements, companies are >setting their sights on the mass transport of bulk water by diversion and by >super tanker. Several companies are developing technology whereby large >quantities of fresh water would be loaded into huge sealed bags and towed >across the ocean for sale. > >The U.S. Global Water Corporation, a Canadian company, is one of those >seeking to be a major player in the water trade. It has signed an agreement >with Sitka, Alaska, to export 18 billion gallons per year of glacier water >to China where it will be bottled in one of that country's "free trade" >zones to take advantage of cheap labor. The company brochure entices >investors "to harvest the accelerating opportunity...as traditional sources >of water around the world become progressively depleted and degraded." > >Selling water to the highest bidder will only exacerbate the worst impacts >of the world water crisis. > >Social Inequity > > >In India, some households pay a staggering 25 percent of their income on >water. > >Poor residents of Lima, Peru, pay private vendors as much as $3 for a cubic >meter for buckets of often-contaminated water while the more affluent pay 30 >cents per cubic meter for treated municipal tap water. > >In the maquiladora zones of Mexico, water is so scarce that babies and >children drink Coca-Cola and Pepsi instead. >Disease > > >More than five million people, most of them children, die every year from >illnesses caused by drinking poor-quality water. >Food Insecurity > > >China is facing the likelihood of severe grain shortages because of water >depletion and the current shift of limited water resources from agriculture >to industry and cities. The resulting demand for grain in China could exceed >the world's available exportable supply. > >During a drought crisis in northern Mexico in 1995, the government cut water >supplies to local farmers while ensuring emergency supplies to the mostly >foreign-controlled industries of the region. >Environmental Destruction > > >Around the world, the answer to the increase in water demand has been to >build more environmentally destructive dams and divert more rivers. The >number of large dams worldwide has climbed from just over 5,000 in 1950 to >38,000 today. > >In the U.S., only 2 percent of the country's rivers and wetlands remain >free-flowing and undeveloped; as a result, the country has lost more than >half of its wetlands. > >Eighty percent of China's major rivers are so degraded they no longer >support fish. > >In the U.S., the epicenter of freshwater diversity in the world, 37 percent >of freshwater fish are at risk of extinction, 50 percent of crayfish and 40 >percent of amphibians are imperiled, and 67 percent of freshwater mussels >are extinct or vulnerable to extinction. > >In the Great Lakes system, the Nature Conservancy has identified 100 species >and 31 ecological communities at risk >A number of key research and environmental organizations such as Worldwatch >Institute, World Resources Institute and the United Nations Environment >Program have been sounding the alarm for well over a decade: If water usage >continues to increase at current rates, the results will be devastating for >the earth and its inhabitants. Groups such as the International Rivers >Network, Greenpeace, Clean Waters Network, Sierra Club and Friends of the >Earth International, along with thousands of community groups around the >world, are fighting the construction of new dams, reclaiming damaged rivers >and wetlands, confronting industry over contamination of water systems, and >protecting whales and other aquatic species from hunting and overfishing. In >a number of countries, experts have come up with some exciting and creative >solutions to these problems. > >This work is crucial, yet such efforts need to be coordinated and understood >in the broader context of economic globalization and its role in promoting >privatization and commodification. > >The Blue Gold report addresses the following issues: Who owns water? Should >anyone? Should it be privatized? What rights do transnational corporations >have to buy water systems? Should it be traded as a commodity in the open >market? What laws do we need to protect water? What is the role of >government? How do we share water in water-rich countries with those in >water-poor countries? Who is the custodian for nature's lifeblood? How do >ordinary citizens become involved in this process? > >As Georg Wurmitzer, mayor of the small town of Simitz in the Austrian Alps, >states: "It is a sacred duty to help someone who is suffering from thirst. >However, it is a sin to transfer water just so that people can flush their >toilets and wash their cars in dry areas...It makes no sense and is >ecological and economic madness." > > >* * * >The next World Water Forum is being held in The Hague in March 2000. Chaired >by World Bank Vice President Ismail Serageldin, this meeting is part of the >continuing activities of the World Water Council, formed by governments, >international agencies, and private sector in 1997 after the first World >Water Forum held in Marrakesh, Morocco. > >The World Water Council has formed various partnerships with private >corporations including the Global Water Partnership and Business Partners >for Development. The web sites and reports of these organizations make it >clear that some of the largest water privateers are taking the lead in >developing water policies of international organizations and governments. > >Instead of allowing this vital resource to become a commodity sold to the >highest bidder, this report advocates that access to clean water for basic >needs is a fundamental human right. Each generation must ensure that the >abundance and quality of water is not diminished as a result of its >activities. Greater efforts must be made to restore the health of aquatic >ecosystems that have already been degraded as well as to protect others from >harm. We believe that the following ten principles will help to protect >water: > >1) Water belongs to the earth and all species >2) Water should be left where it is wherever possible >3) Water must be conserved for all time >4) Polluted water must be reclaimed >5) Water is best protected in natural watersheds >6) Water is a public trust to be guarded at all levels of government >7)An adequate supply of clean water is a basic human right >8)The best advocates for water are local communities and citizens >9)The public must participate as an equal partner with government to protect >water >10) Economic globalization policies are not water sustainable > > > > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >---- > >ABOUT THE AUTHOR > >Maude Barlow >The Council of Canadians, Canada > >A well known public speaker, organizer and media commentator, Maude Barlow >has been called the "Ralph Nader of Canada." She is the national volunteer >chairperson of the Council of Canadians and the founding co-chair of Action >Canada Network. Previously a senior advisor to Pierre Trudeau during his >administration, she was also one of Canada's leading voices in the battle >against the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement and NAFTA, as well as a central >figure in the international citizens' movement that brought to a halt >negotiations on the Multilateral Agreement on Investments (MAI) at the >Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). > >Barlow has been recognized with the Ontario Teacher's Federation's highest >award for her contribution to education and equality in schools. She is a >best-selling author whose works include The MAI and the Threat to American >Freedom, Class Warfare: The Assault on Canada's Schools with Heather-Jane >Robertson, Parcel of Rogues, Take Back the Nation with Bruce Campbell, and >Straight Through the Heart, a critical examination of the Liberal >government's role in developing and dismantling Canada's social programs. >Her most recent publication, The Fight of My Life, is an autobiography of >her years of public service. Barlow holds an honorary doctorate from >Memorial University. > >Publications Order Form >IFG Publications >IFG Home Page > > > > --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
