By Boutros-Ghali Boutros and - -
PARIS, May 1 2005 (IPS)

The greatest environmental challenge the 21st century is water, writes Boutros Boutros-Ghali, secretary-general of the United Nations between 1992-1996. In this analysis, the author writes that the problem is not so much a lack of water on a global scale but inequities in its distribution. Brazil, Russia, Canada, the US, China, Indonesia, India, Colombia and the European Union monopolise almost two-thirds of global water resources. In the developing world, 90 percent of the water used has not been treated for impurities. In the poorest countries all of these problems accumulate and compound each other. The illnesses caused by contaminated water constitute a serious obstacle to economic development not only by causing millions of deaths but also by rendering hundreds of millions of people incapacitated In addition to the problems of pollution and waste is the fact that many countries depend for their water on sources outside of their countries. Therefore, the challenge, here as in many other areas, is to replace relations of force with relations of solidarity, cooperation, and collective administration. Education, particularly about the environment, must be made universal, for this is the only way to bring about the development of awareness and engender a sense of responsibility and commitment to safeguard the common patrimony of the earth.

The United Nations Conference on the Environment, held in Rio in 1992, was a turning-point in international relations. It demonstrated, in particular, the will of the United Nations to make a collective and solidary commitment to sustainable development, a path that is unavoidable given the fact that our common destiny is more profoundly manifested in our relation to the environment than in any other area. The air that we breathe, the water we drink, the natural resources that we exploit are at the same time common goods and a shared responsibility for all of us.

Since Rio, awareness of the planet’s environment, brought into the limelight by major international conferences, has grown steadily. However, we must admit that the concrete actions conceived to safeguard the planet and ensure a measured and equitable use of resources both within and among countries, and between generations, did not live up to the hopes raised and the commitments made. Seriously harmful practices have continued as inequalities have intensified everywhere. The frequent disagreements that have emerged around this issue are a clear sign of the difficulties that the nations of this world face in living together and together administering and predicting the future that concerns us all.

The area of environmental challenge that stands out for the 21st century and is emblematic of the overall situation is water. It should be noted that the problem is not so much a lack of water on a global scale but inequities in its distribution. Brazil, Russia, Canada, the US, China, Indonesia, India, Colombia and the European Union monopolise almost two-thirds of global water resources. In the developing world, 90 percent of the water used has not been treated for impurities. But the situation in the developed countries is far from perfect: half of the rivers and lakes in the US and Europe are seriously polluted. Moreover, immense quantities of water are wasted: 70 percent of the fresh water currently used goes to agricultural irrigation for crops with very low yields, at the same time as the demand for food, particularly in large cities, grows incessantly.

In the poorest countries all of these problems accumulate and compound each other. One of five people on the earth lacks clean drinking water; one in two lacks access to sanitation; thirty million die each year from illnesses related to contaminated water. The illnesses caused by contaminated water constitute a serious obstacle to economic development not only by causing millions of deaths but also by rendering hundreds of millions of people incapacitated

Water is without a doubt one of the major challenges for the world in this century. In addition to the problems of pollution and waste is the fact that many countries depend for their water on sources outside of their countries. Therefore, the challenge, here as in many other areas, is to replace relations of force with relations of solidarity, cooperation, and collective administration.

Although many do not want to accept it, we are all citizens of the same human family and the same earth. For this reason, human solidarity cannot be limited to compassion. It is also, and above all, a matter of awareness — awareness of the globality of destiny, whether within or between states, because the consequences of this destructive attitude towards the environment are felt beyond state borders. In the same way, the protective attitude adopted by a city, a region, or a country will be insufficient unless it can be extended and coordinated beyond borders and across oceans. What would become of a world in which each generation dedicated itself to satisfying its own needs without recognising that it was compromising those of future generations!

It is this awareness that gives rise to individual and collective responsibility — our responsibility to safeguard the common patrimony of the earth and its ecosystems as well as the cultural diversity of its inhabitants. As a consequence, in context of current globalisation, which is so favourable to freedom yet so freighted with dangers, nurturing a dialogue between cultures and civilisations is more indispensable than ever to the emergence of a universal awareness and the undertaking of a collective effort to protect the environment and support sustainable development. However, for this to happen, education, particularly about the environment, must be made universal, for this is the only way to bring about the development of awareness and engender a sense of responsibility and commitment.(END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

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