World Water Week

According to statistics collected by the U.N., there are approximately 880 million people worldwide who live without access to a safe drinking water source. EVERY DAY about 5,000 children die from water-borne illnesses related to poor sanitation and a lack of access to clean drinking water, and every year 2.2 million people die from the same cause. By 2030, the number of people living in areas of severe water stress could rise to 4 billion. This enormously detrimental predicament is being addressed by human rights advocates, development and aid agencies, and local initiatives which fight to have water declared as a human right, implement reliable water system infrastructures, and to promote sustainable water use, so as to stifle and prevent further suffering related to this dire human need. The problem is also being addressed by private companies, who seek to earn large profits from the growing global scarcity of fresh water drinking supplies. It has already been estimated that the global water market is worth nearly 250 billion dollars, and that figure is set to rise to a staggering 660 billion by 2020. Basically, there is a lot of money to be made off of the commoditization of our survival. In order to prevent the privatization of water, the most basic necessity to human life, it is imperative that human rights organizations work in conjunction with environmental groups to address the situation at hand; and this past week a global meeting of a variety of stakeholders proved to be an excellent example of such benevolent cooperation.

Last week was marked by a seven-day convention of over 2,500 parties from 130 countries, representing 175 different organizations, all gathering in Sweden to address the world's most urgent water-related issues. The Stockholm Water Symposium was organized by the Stockholm Water Institute, and featured a variety of workshops, lectures, and discussions which focused on water security and provision in terms of development, aid, sustainability, and public health. The global summit offered up an environment within which both contrasting and corresponding state policies would be examined and analyzed, and solutions to the world's pressing needs would be presented. Regarding the availability of water as a natural resource in relation to its comparative uses, many nations from both the industrialized and the developing world were presented with the effects of their agricultural practices. Similarly, the unregulated pollutants in drinking water, such as wastewater, pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptor's, herbicides and pesticides were discussed across country lines; as well as the power of farm lobbyists in effecting policy. In terms of solutions, several ideas and initiatives were discussed, including the formation of plebiscites demanding water as a basic human right; water as a public trust, an idea supported by the U.N. senior advisor on water issues, Ms. Maude Barlow; and ecosystem restoration, which is an emerging movement spreading wide across the globe in hopes of establishing clean and safe watersheds for the benefit of our ecosystems and our drinking supply.

Also this week, a report was publicized at the symposium by the water advocacy organization Circle of Blue, indicating that people worldwide view water issues as surpassing the threats of climate change, becoming the most crucial environmental problem to face humanity. The desperation, disease, and death which are caused by a lack of access to clean drinking water and healthy sanitation practices were seen by a majority of the 1,000 respondents from 15 different countries to be a fundamental human concern. The most prominent facet of this concern, according to the survey, was water pollution and the public health crises that emerge from a lack of proper sanitation. Water scarcity was also a top priority for the respondents. The results varied by state, which developing countries showing greater concern for water issues in general. With most all of the environmental efforts within industrialized nations seeming to revolve around climate change in recent years, the results of this survey prove to be a startling glimpse at the immediate plight of human beings around the world.

And in terms of climate change, the participants in the Stockholm Symposium released a statement last week directed at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, where world leaders will meet to reach a resolution on a global cap on greenhouse gas emissions. The statement asserts that water must be considered as an integral facet of climate change and its effects, and states that "water is a key medium through which climate change impacts will be felt. Managing the resource effectively, including through well-conceived IWRM [Integrated Water Resources Management] approaches and at a trans boundary level, is central to successful adaptation planning and implementation, and to building the resilience of communities, countries, and regions."

The Stockholm Symposium is the second gathering to address water issues in 2009, the first being a forum organized in March by the World Water Council which included governments, water utility companies, and groups associated with environmental research and education. The forum was widely criticized by activists who claimed that the forum was exclusionary and promoted private interests moreso than advocating for the earth and the world's poor. The Stockholm International Water Institutes' program, conversely, was celebrated for its global perspective and its focus on real issues. Hopefully the convergence of participants at this massive gathering will result in resonating thought and policy geared towards water sustainability and improved access to safe drinking water at no charge to those who need it. The next World Water Week has already been set for September 5-11, 2010. Mark your calendars!