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DEVELOPMENT: Preparing for Water Quarrels, if not Wars
By Hilmi Toros
ISTANBUL, Mar 15, 2009 (IPS) - The Fifth World Water Forum begins in Istanbul Mar. 16 in the face of some stark
facts: of the world's water, 97.5 percent is the sea, and of the remaining, 70
percent is frozen in polar icecaps. That leaves precious little for 6.76 billion
people around the world, expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050.
The statistics get scarier. United Nations agencies estimate that 1.1 billion
people live without clean drinking water. About 70 percent of water is used
for irrigation - and most of that is lost before it reaches the plant. In 2017
close to 70 percent of the global population will have problems accessing
freshwater. In 2025, approximately 40 percent of the population will be living
in water-scarce regions.
Confronting these facts, and the difficulties they raise, will be an estimated
20,000 participants who will attend the week-long forum on the future of
the "commodity" that is so much more vital than oil or gas, gold or
diamonds.
The parley will bring together cabinet ministers, mayors, management
experts, academics, parliamentarians and civil society organisations to
discuss a wide array of water-related issues, and come up with
recommendations for action. The conference has been sponsored by the
World Water Council based in Marseille (France) and Turkish government
agencies along with the Istanbul municipality. The water forum is held every
three years.
The theme for the forum this year is 'Bridging Divides for Water'. It will
address global changes and risk management, and the protection of water
resources. The conference is expected to produce a joint declaration, The
Istanbul Consensus.
What that consensus can be built around is another matter. "A global water
crisis is on its way," says a paper prepared for the Forum by the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the largest independent network
working on natural resources, citing projected increases in population and
pollution.
Much of the concern boils down to a simple question: is water a "commodity"
that profit-oriented private concerns can trade in, or a human right to be
guaranteed by public institutions? Who owns it? Who should manage it?
The Forum maintains it has an open mind. Its programme declares that "the
Forum is not a place for private firms to exploit water as a commodity but, to
the contrary, to discuss and find common solutions that may be acceptable to
all parties and be of benefit for all." But it also offers a venue "perfectly
placed to facilitate new business opportunities...as well as providing access to
sizeable potential new customers."
The Forum stands accused of having a particular agenda. "The Forum lacks
democratic legitimacy and should be replaced by a UN process," Olivier
Hoedeman of the Amsterdam-based NGO Corporate Europe Observatory told
IPS in a telephone interview. "The World Water Council, which controls the
Forum process, is simply a private think-tank unaccountable to anyone but
itself. It has a history of close ties to private water multinationals and of
promoting the neo-liberal agenda for the water sector."
His NGO and others are backing an alternative 'People's Water Forum' to run
on the same dates, proclaiming "Water for People, Not Profit" and that
"Another Water Management is Possible", taking a cue from the World Social
Forum slogan "Another World is Possible".
Ger Bergkamp, director-general of the World Water Council, which counts 300
members from 62 countries, told IPS he has no problem with the alternative
forum. "We are open to all without particular view or interest. All are
welcome. If there are other forums, we welcome them. It will keep the issue
alive."
Bergkamp denied that the Council is only business-oriented. He said the
private sector is only a small part of the Forum.
That has not stopped groups such as the WWF planning anti-Forum
demonstrations, though it is unclear how far they will be tolerated by Turkish
security forces that are often suspicious of mass demonstrations. Tens of
thousands marched in protest against the fourth WWF in Mexico City three
years ago.
The bigger confrontations are expected within the Forum itself. Several
delegations are reported to be opposed to any final declaration that falls
short of calling for public management of water supplies. Hoedeman said
Latin American delegations will issue a counter proclamation if privatisation
is pushed.
The Forum will seek to be green, in line with recommendations of the IUCN
World Conservation Congress in Barcelona in October last year. Delegates are
advised to travel by train, boat or bus for short distances, use recyclable
water bottles, go for electronic documents rather than printed ones, use both
sides of paper, lower the thermostat in hotel rooms, turn off the tap when
brushing teeth, take showers rather than baths, asks that towels and bedding
not be changed every day, and use stairs rather than elevators.
And organisers have committed themselves to planting a tree for every
participant. The trees will need water, though.
(END)
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