World Bank Supports Harmful Water Corporations, Report Finds | IPS ipsnews.net

Water privatisation has been proven not to help the poor, yet a quarter of all World Bank funding goes directly to corporations and the private sector, bypassing both governments and its own standards and transparency requirements in order to do so, says a new report released Monday. Continue reading…

New report: From privatisation to corporatisation and the need for a counter-strategy | Fivas

The 15th and 16th of March FIVAS launched and presented its new report at the alternative water forum FAME, a counter-event to theWorld Water Forum in Marseille, France. The report explores the development from privatisation to corporatisation, within neoliberal policy on urban water services in developing countries. The report calls for the water justice movement to update and adjust its strategy, in order to counter the neoliberal tactical shift towards corporatisation. Corporatisation reform entails the implementation of commercial neoliberal management principles within public sector water utilities. Continue reading…

Food & Water Watch Takes a Hard Look at Market Self-Regulation | Triplepundit.com

Concerned about a recent trend in which financial interests have turned their attention to the profitability of trading in common resources such as air quality, water and fisheries, in what they are calling, “the financialization of nature,” Food & Water Watch (F&WW) just introduced a new Common Resources program that scrutinizes these schemes with an eye towards protecting these common interests. Continue reading…

Urgent Action needed to protect the Human Right to Water and Sanitation! | Polaris Institute

As you read this, The United Nations’ historic 2010 recognition of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation is coming under severe threat from a number of governments at the United Nations who want to see the recognition disappear. Canada is one of the countries leading this assault by pushing for the removal of any mention of the recognition of the Human Right to Water and Sanitation from the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio + 20, Earth Summit) negotiating text which will frame the discussions at the Rio + 20 conference in June. Continue reading…

Bottled water industry’s PR battle against tap water | The Ecologist

Worried by a dip in sales, Nestlé is among the companies waging a public relations war to turn the public off tap water and back onto plastic bottled water. Continue reading…

Denouncing the murderous attack to Greek anti-mining activists | Alternative World Water Forum

Several hundred men on the payroll of “Greek Gold S.A.”, a subsidiry of Canadian company “European Goldfields”, attacked a group of local activists that are defending the virgin forests of Chalkidiki against the construction of a mine that will irreversibly poison the land and water and destroy the future of the local community. One of the defenders is right now in the hospital struggling for his life. Continue reading…

Springs of Hope: Defending, Reclaiming and Redefining Public Water | Transnational Institute

For the last decade, the water justice movements from around the world have been struggling against the privatization and commercialization of water. But the big challenge for the movements is always to be one step ahead of the privateers.

A clear message from the people’s world water forum is the need to have a clear, long-term vision of the kind of public water management that will replace privatization. There are still much to be done in terms of articulating and implementing progressive models of water management and governance. Learning from the past and thinking of creative ways to achieve the “future we want” are but necessary. A stable institutional, policy, legal framework and political will are needed for such alternatives to develop and flourish. Continue reading…

World Water Forums Expose Large Dams As ‘Unsustainable’ | Global Issues

Numerous non-governmental organisations used the World Water Forum (WWF) held in Marseille last week as an opportunity to remind the international community about the serious global impacts of large dams all over the world.

Defined as dams higher than 15 metres or with a reservoir volume of at least three million cubic metres, large dams number no less than 48,000 worldwide and present numerous issues, not least of which is a considerably negative impact on the livelihoods of local populations. Continue reading…

The resounding message from people’s world water forum: Reclaim public water! | PSI

Two international forums on water issues happened in Marseille, France the week of 12 March that – like reflecting pools, mirrored the different values of those attending. Continue reading…

Water Commons, Water Citizenship and Water Security | Focus on the Global South

In Cebu City, the Philippines, public sector workers like Zosimo Salcedo at the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD) opposed Asian Development Bank financing that would purportedly increase the burgeoning city’s water supply. The financing sounded like a water workers dream – more infrastructure funds spells more jobs. So why was Zosimo Salcedo opposing the funds?Contrary to common perceptions that workers are only concerned with preserving jobs and receiving higher pay, the union acted as stewards of the water commons. Continue reading…