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Latest news
Jan 11, 2012
by
PhilLee
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last modified
Jan 11, 2012 12:15 PM
A new report by Friends of the Earth Europe shows that European consumption is threatening the world's water supply.
This research shows how Europe’s material consumption is threatening the world’s water supply and Europe is neglecting the catastrophic consequences that water stress and scarcity will have in the continent and in the rest of the world. Europe’s high levels of water use are characteristic of alarming levels of resource use by a minority of the global population. This imbalance in water use has already resulted in water conflicts in parts of the world where water is scarcest.
Read the report here
Mar 24, 2011
by
PhilLee
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last modified
Mar 24, 2011 04:16 PM
On Wednesday March 16, civil society organisations in Colombia took to the streets of the capital Bogota, to mark the International Day of Action Against Dams and for the defence of rivers, water and life. They were joined by other like-minded organisations from the continent and beyond.
Demonstrations and cultural events also took place in Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador.
In Neiva, in the south of Colombia, 2000 people marched to express their opposition to plans to build a dam in the Magdalena river. More than 200 peasants from the region took part in a sit-in outside the site where the dam would be built.
In the north of the country up to 4,000 people demonstrated against the construction of the Ituango Dam on the Cauca river. The people's slogans demanded guarantees of the right to land, work and the rejection of forcible evictions.
In Santander, peasants, fisherfolk, environmental activists, workers and students demonstrated against a project to build a dam in the Chicamocha river, one of the most diverse places in the region. The dam would cause severe damage to the fisheries, and peasants who live on the river.
In Cauca, to the west, black communities conducted a General Assembly to mark the day and to prepare an action plan to respond to threats on their territory from a proposed hydroelectricity project. They also agreed to put together an environmental management plan for its Basin.
Aug 02, 2010
by
PhilLee
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last modified
Aug 02, 2010 11:42 AM
On July 28 the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly agreed to a resolution declaring the human right to "safe and clean drinking water and sanitation."
 The UN General Assembly passed on Wednesday in New York, US, a resolution that recognizes the human right to clean water and sanitation, with 122 votes in favour, 41 abstentions and zero votes against it. Hundreds of social movements around the world welcome this historic decision.
“After over a decade of hard work, the global water justice movement achieved a major victory”, states the Council of Canadians in a press release issued Wednesday. The Council of Canadians is an organization that has been crucial in the international struggle for this right and that works for social, economic and environmental justice in Canada and the rest of the world.
Three members of the Council of Canadians were present at the UN General Assembly session yesterday. One of them, Anil Naidoo, said “this resolution has the overwhelming support of a strong majority of countries, despite a handful of powerful opponents. It must now be followed-up with a renewed push for water justice.”
The initiative, introduced by Bolivia with the support of over 30 countries, declares “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” And is “deeply concerned” since “approximately 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water and that over 2.6 billion do not have access to basic sanitation”. It also states its alarm since “approximately 1.5 million children under 5 years of age die and 443 million school days are lost each year from water and sanitation related diseases”.
The movements fighting for the human right to water at an international level are aware of the fact that their work and mobilization must continue, to ensure the enforcement of the resolution. “We are calling for actions on the ground in communities around the world to ensure that the rights to water and sanitation are implemented”, said Naidoo. “Governments, aid agencies and the UN must take their responsibilities seriously”, he added.
Several developed countries pushed to prevent the resolution from being passed, although when it was time to vote they abstained, to protect their international image. The United Kingdom, Canada, US, Australia and New Zealand are among these countries.
It was reported that these countries tried to change the text of the resolution to reduce their future obligations to ensure the human right to water.
Most of the abstaining countries are European, mostly the EU or aligned to the EU. The six African countries that abstained (Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Tanzania and Zambia) are former European colonies, as the two Caribbean countries (Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago).
Jul 22, 2010
by
PhilLee
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last modified
Jul 22, 2010 02:48 PM
Friends of the Earth Korea / KFEM have recently occupied a 6 metre high dam to show their opposition to the four major rivers development project.
 At 4am on July 22, 2010, Five KFEM campaigners occupied a 6 metre high dam on the Namhan River, part of the four major rivers project. The group of five were protesting at the environmental destruction the project is causing.
A spokesman from the group said:
"As environmentalists we cannot understand the irrational and ecologically destructive four major rivers project. Protesting is the only thing we can do because the government ignores and rejects all the suggestions from the people on the ground."
The South Korean government announced the four major rivers restoration project in June 2009. They claim that the Four Major Rivers Project is part of its efforts to combat climate change. However, the project threatens conservation efforts of wetlands and will stop rivers from flowing freely. Friends of the Earth Korea believe that more than 100 river wetlands on the National Wetland Inventory will be affected by the project.
Wetlands play a crucial role in flood control, water supply and water purification. The construction of levies and dams on rivers to improve flood control has often had the reverse effect. Floodplain restoration and removal of nearby structures should be considered as an alternative solution.
Friends of the Earth Korea are demanding that President Lee Myung-Bak:
- recognise the public concerns about the project and stop it immediately
- create an organisation to create alternatives to the four major rivers development project
- discuss with civil society organisations and local people any future ideas for development projects
further information
View pictures of the protest here
Apr 17, 2009
by
PhilLee
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last modified
Apr 17, 2009 04:40 PM
More than 1000 Colombians demonstrated in the capital as part of international water week in order to reclaim water as a fundamental right.
 On March 18 2009, Colombians demonstrated in support of a referendum on the right to water as part of International Water Week. More than 1000 people participated in the demonstration which included young people from universities and schools, environmentalists, trade unionists and neighbourhood communities from all over Bogota.
The demonstration’s strength and impact rested on the young people’s cultural expressions as they sought to reclaim water as a vital element of their territory and access to water as a fundamental right, far removed from the thinking promoted by transnational corporations and other private actors.
 The march sent a strong message to the MPs who were discussing the Water Referendum Bill in the House of Representatives. The bill demands the enforcement of the popular decision, supported by over two million Colombians, to treat water as a fundamental human right for everyone.
However, while the Columbian congress is questioning the cost implied by the implementation of the proposal, delaying its approval, the figures of inequality in the country continue to rise. Nearly 53% of the rural population has no access to drinking water. In the capital alone, there are nearly one million people without access to water, because they cannot afford it.
Friends of the Earth Colombia/CENSAT demand the lawmakers reflect the citizen’s decision in the recent referendum and they encourage the national and international community to support this initiative and to continue moving forward in the building of a social and environmental movement that defends access to water as a fundamental human right.
update
On May 19 the Colombian congress ignored the will of the people and 'modified' the bill taking out the reference to water being a basic human right.
Rafael Colmenares from the Committee in Defence of Water and Life decalred that the popular initiative "no longer exists, it was blocked"
"We are not advocates of the referendum that will be voted on," he continued, after two and a half years of efforts to gather signatures and raise awareness on the issue."
In response the committee is studying possible legal actions to ensure that the original text of the bill is put before the legislative committe. Meanwhile, the Colombian citizens who signed the referendum calling for access to water for everyone, will once again take to the streets and demand that the will of the people is recognised.
Apr 20, 2007
by
admin
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last modified
Apr 20, 2007 12:50 PM
referendum result - 60% reject water privatization
On the historical day October 31 st ,
62,75% of the Uruguayan people supported the
Constitutional Reform in Defense of Water,
adding water as a human right to the
Constitution and setting the basis for its
exclusive public, participative and
sustainable management.
This referendum resource was promoted by
the National Commission in Defense of Water
and Life (CNDAV) . The commission was created
in 2002 as an answer to the signing of a
Letter of Intent between the Uruguayan
government and the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), which committed to extend the
privatization of potable water and sanitation
services to the entire country.
Privatizations started in Maldonado
department, firstly with the presence of
French multinational company Suez Lyonnese
Des Aux followed by Spanish company Aguas de
Bilbao.
As in most of water privatizations
performed last year, these processes have had
negative consequences.
From the social point of view, wide
sectors were prevented access to potable
water for not being able to afford the cost
of the service, which considerably decreased
its quality with respect to the services
granted by water state company OSE.
The conditions of the service were of such
low quality that quality control bodies in
that matter recommended not to consume water
because it didn't comply with minimum quality
standards.
From an economic point of view, the
“business” was really bad for the Uruguayan
state. Not only did the companies failed to
comply with the chronograms provided in the
contracts, but they didn't pay what was
established as well. Having to file for
contractual reconsiderations before the
state, which assumed the losses caused in
each of the cases.
From an environmental point of view, Aguas
de la Costa company (subsidiary of Suez) was
responsible for drying Blanca Lagoon, which
used to be used as potablilization source.
Precisely for this cause, neighbors of
Maldonado department filed a law suit against
the company for environmental damages.
Water against
everything
The victory of the water plebiscite was
actually a social one. CNDAV is a wide group
of social and political organizations which
oppose a merchandising conception of
water.
Among their founders are neighbors'
organizations, FFOSE (water state company's
trade union) and REDES-FOE (Friends of the
Earth Uruguay). After its foundation, the
commission became greater, including the
majority left wing political party (Frente
Amplio, winner of October 31st elections) and
one nationalist party's sectors.
However, despite its political support,
the water plebiscite was secondary within the
politic and media agenda. In addition to
this, privatizing companies, of water and
other sectors (as bottling companies) as well
as conservative business sectors (large
estate owners, forestal and rice) carried out
a strong politic and media lobby against the
reform.
During the nine months previous to the
campaign, the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) started a public debate with the CNDAV,
denying any imposition to the Uruguayan
government and refusing the responsibility
attributed to the content of 2002 Intentions
Letter.
The work, which enabled the triumph of the
Constitutional Reform , was based on the
grassroots, which transmitted the spirit and
content of the proposed articles.
The auspicious result of the plebiscite
opens the doors for a water policy designed
from a vision of this resource as a common
good, to be publicly managed on social
participation and sustainability
criteria.
read
about the background
by
admin
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last modified
Apr 20, 2007 12:46 PM
by
admin
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last modified
Apr 20, 2007 12:19 PM
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asian development bank
water projects
sri lanka
thailand
pakistan
nepal
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image: FoE Sri
Lanka
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The Government of Sri Lanka is receiving a
$10.7 million loan from the Asian Development
Bank to improve the management of water
resources. This is part of a scheme promoted
by the World Bank and the Development Bank to
stop farmers growing non-export food crops
and to start charging farming families for
irrigation water. Both farmers and the poor
will be forced to sell their water rights to
high value sectors such as export food crops,
industrial sectors or modern economic sectors
in urban areas.
In 2000 ministers approved a 'National
Water Resources Policy'. Its major
recommendation is that all the water
resources should rest with the government.
Once implemented every user of water will
have to pay for their water entitlement. This
is only one step towards transferring the
ownership of water resources to international
companies so they can make profits through
distribution. Historically, water has always
been regarded as the common property of the
Sri Lankan people. The State is only a
guardian. However, about 12 foreign companies
have already visited Sri Lanka and held
international workshops to explore business
opportunities with water.
Paddy cultivation will be seriously
affected if water is issued as a commodity on
the market. The World Bank has advised the
government that paddy cultivation in Sri
Lanka is a non-profitable venture and
recommended the diversification of
agriculture into cash crops. Making water a
commodity and fixing a market price amounts
to taking away the livelihoods of the urban
and rural poor, as well as farmers, animals
and plants.
visit
the
website of the Sri Lankan Friends of the
Earth group, Environmental Foundation Ltd
In Thailand, the Asian Development Bank's
$600 million Agricultural Sector Program Loan
demands fundamental reforms of national water
policy, despite possibly contravening the
Thai constitution.
The Asian Development Bank called for:
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a National Water Resources Policy;
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a Water Law;
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a policy on cost recovery in
irrigation;
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an increase in National Water Resource
Committee's authority in managing water
resources nationwide;
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river basin organizations in three
pilot river basins;
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the privatization of the irrigation
system so that farmers pay for the costs of
private water management.
The Thai government has been required to
use the free market model. Groups who can
make a high profit from water are given
priority in access to water resources.
Farmers, who do not generate much profit from
water, are given the lowest priority.
In drafting National Water Resources
policy, the National Water Resources
Committee obtained technical assistance from
consultant companies hired by the Asian
Development Bank and some committee members
had close relationships with consultant
companies hired by the Asian Development
Bank. The decision-making was processed
behind closed doors. Put simply, the
direction of National Policy on Water
Resource was determined by the Asian
Development Bank.
The Government of Pakistan, with the help
of the Asian Development Bank, set up the
Water Resources Strategy Study. It was
undertaken by the Ministry of Water and
Power, the Office of the Chief Engineering
Advisor and the Chairman of the Federal Flood
Commission. The Study's main objective was to
prepare a road map for the future development
of the water sector towards more efficient
service delivery and the optimum utilization
of resources to meet the competing demands of
all water users in the future.
The Strategy and the Medium Term
Investment Plan prioritize fairness in water
allocation, improving and maintaining the
quality of water, the conservation of the
country's water resources and the need for
efficiency and financial sustainability in
water service delivery. These terms mean
privatization and full-cost recovery – higher
tariffs for the consumer.
The privatization of Karachi 's water
supply
The government has pointed to the massive
losses that the public sector makes; and the
World Bank has stressed quite correctly that
it is the poor who bear the burden of these
public sector losses because Pakistan have a
very regressive taxation system. However, the
only thing that Government can do is to bring
in the private sector and replace public
corruption with private profit.
If the Government guaranteed similar
profits and salaries to the public sector, it
would do just as well. Pakistan 's main
problem is a lack of public funding as an
enormous share of the budget, over a third of
it, goes to the military. Another third or
more goes to debt servicing and the remainder
is for running the government. So the only
way the Pakistani government can get the
money it needs is through the private
sector.
The Asian Development Bank has approved
$1.4 million technical assistance grant to
support water and sanitation sector reform in
Kathmandu Valley. It includes the
establishment of the National Water Supply
Regulatory Board and the Kathmandu Valley
Water Authority, and a private sector
participation scheme.
The Nepal Water Supply Corporation says
the Asian Development Bank has failed to
supply efficient and affordable services or
significantly to expand its service coverage
for residents of the Kathmandu Valley. The
Asian Development Bank project in Nepal is
pushing for implementation of cost recovery,
water costs and charges, and
privatization.
Private management of the Nepal Water
Supply Corporation would increase the price
of water five-fold by the time water starts
flowing in the pipes of Kathmandu.
visit
the website of the Nepali Friends of the
Earth group, Pro Public
find
out more about
the asian development bank.
Source: P. Raja Siregar
(2003) “World Bank and ADB’s role in
privatizing water in Asia Region” presented
at the
Asia Pacific Conference on Debt
and Privatization of Water and Power
Service
, held by Jubilee South/APMDD,
in Bangkok 8-12 December. P. Raja Siregar is
Coordinator of KAU/ Anti Debt
Coalition-Indonesia. The author also works
with WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia)
as Policy Campaigner. Any input, or
suggestions can be sent to or . Information
regarding KAU’s activity and issues available
on:
www.kau.or.id
.
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by
admin
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last modified
Apr 20, 2007 12:19 PM
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world bank water
projects in asia
Philippines
Indonesia
Cambodia
Philippines
: Asia's
Largest Water Privatization
In January 1997, Manila opened the bidding
for the privatization of the city's
Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System
(MWSS), Asia's largest and, by some measures,
the world's largest water sector
privatization to date.
MWSS, responsible for delivering water and
sewerage services to Manila's 11 million
residents, invited private water groups to
bid for two 25-year concessions, one for the
city's west side, one for the east.
Manila Water Co., won the eastern
concession by promising a huge 74% cut in
water rates. On the other hand, the Maynilad
Water Services Inc., won the western zone
with a promise to lower rates by 44%.
Both concessions would run for 25 years
with the pledge that no rate increases will
be implemented in the first 10 years of
operation. Consequently, people welcomed the
prospects of better and cheaper services but
some keen observers already warned of the
entry of old oligarchs and foreign capital
into vital public utilities of the
country.
Six years after the privatization, water
fees were increased five times without
corresponding improvements on water services
and existing infrastructure. Water charges
tripled in 2001 and in 2003 has an 81%
increase in the eastern zone and 36% in the
western district. As services become more
expensive and inefficient, poorer households
suffered. Similarly, millions of Filipinos
are still not connected to piped water and
almost 50% of the water supply is lost due to
leakage and theft.
Water Districts Outside Metro Manila
The Local Water Utility Administration
(LWUA) is in charge of managing water systems
outside Metro Manila. The same agency
exercises an exclusive right to provide water
and collect fees from around 500 water
districts nationwide. LWUA funds the
construction of all water facilities from
fees collected from consumers, loans from ADB
and the World Bank and official development
assistance (ODA). Local government units
either on the provincial, city or municipal
level appoint LWUA Board Members for each
water district. LWUA is not a profit-making
agency but its mode of operation is
commercialized in the sense that it is
allowed to recover its investments at full
cost. As a consequence, LWUA only operates in
urban areas where the population is huge and
whose residents can afford to pay water
services.
The
Freedom
from Debt Coalition
monitors the
socio-economic impact of local water
districts that have been privatized. Some of
these districts suffer the fate of Metro
Manila residents who are paying higher water
fees in exchange of poorer service.
visit
the website of the Philippine Friends of the
Earth group, The Legal Rights & Natural
Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan
Indonesia:
Privatization of
Jakarta Water Utilities
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image: WAHLI/FoE
Indonesia
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The World Bank's involvement in water
privatization in Jakarta started in June
1991, with a $92 million loan. The loan was
used to build a new water purification
installation at Pulogadung, Jakarta . Both
the World Bank and the Overseas Economic
Co-operation Fund of Japan advised the
government to privatize its water utilities
in Jakarta .
The privatization of Jakarta's water is
the story of powerful multinationals that
deftly used the World Bank and a compliant
dictatorship to grab control of a major
city's waterworks. In alliance with the
Suharto family and Suharto cronies, Thames
and Suez won favorable concessions without
public consultation or bidding. As riots
spread, the companies' executives fled,
according to Indonesian waterworks officials,
exposing millions of Jakarta residents to a
potential catastrophe. Eventually they
returned and renegotiated their contracts
under somewhat less generous terms. As for
the ostensible reason for privatization —
bringing water to the poor and improving the
finances of the waterworks — the companies'
record is mixed.
World Bank Loan to Reform Water
Policy
In 1998, the World Bank approved a $300
million loan to the Indonesian government.
The proposed loan would support a structural
adjustment program of policy, institutional,
regulatory, legal, and organizational reforms
in the management of the water resources and
irrigation sector.
The World Bank placed two key conditions
on the payment of the loan:
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A new Irrigation Policy, decentralizing
the management of irrigation to farmers'
organizations. Decentralization means
farmers will bear the cost of management
and maintenance.
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A new Water Management Bill, which has
caused widespread protest from NGOs,
farmers, urban poor groups and academia.
The main issues coming from the draft of
the Bill are lack of protection of water
rights of the community. Instead of giving
a clear recognition and protection of water
for people, it gives more access to private
investment to have concession on water
resources, from water surface and ground
water.
visit
the
website of the Indonesian Friends of the
Earth group, Wahana Lingkungan Hidup
Indonesia (Indonesian Forum for the
Environment)
Cambodia is remarkable for the number of
private initiatives in water supply provision
that have sprung up in urban and rural areas,
encouraged by the weakness of public
utilities and the absence of a regulatory
regime. Outside Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville,
almost all new investments in water supply
networks have been made by local private
investors, ranging from a few thousand
dollars for villages of a few hundred
families to $900,000 for the provincial town
of Banteay Meanchey (population 100,000 in
2000). In 1997 and 1998, four private
companies were granted concession rights for
water supply in four large towns.
The concessions were granted without
appropriate bidding, resulting in different
privatization processes. The Government sees
no need to add specific provisions to
encourage service access for all because it
assumes that the private sector automatically
wants to sell water to the greatest number of
people. Understandably, the private investors
have established networks in the most densely
populated urban and commercial neighborhoods,
where the investment required is lowest and
consumption is highest.
Households served by private
utilities pay significantly more for piped
water services, and some lower-income
households that are not served by private
utilities are partially limited by the high
connection fees (as opposed to the regular
monthly payments). Overall, while this recent
effort to introduce private sector
involvement in the water sector in Cambodia
is encouraging, the full gains have not yet
been realized.
read
more about
the world bank's involvement in natural
resources
Source: P. Raja Siregar
(2003) “World Bank and ADB’s role in
privatizing water in Asia Region” presented
at the
Asia Pacific Conference on Debt
and Privatization of Water and Power
Service
, held by Jubilee South/APMDD,
in Bangkok 8-12 December. P. Raja Siregar is
Coordinator of KAU/ Anti Debt
Coalition-Indonesia. The author also works
with WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia)
as Policy Campaigner. Any input, or
suggestions can be sent to or . Information
regarding KAU’s activity and issues available
on:
www.kau.or.id
.
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