Thursday, April 28, 2005 Environmental Form and Substance By Ramon Dacawi ENOUGH is enough. Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev issued this reminder to set the tone of the World Urban Forum last September in Barcelona. He was referring to the numerous pacts and agreements signed by world leaders, starting from the supposedly historic 1992 World Summit for the environment in Rio de Janeiro. Gorbachev, who gracefully stepped down to give way for the crumbling of the Union, rued the disparity between form and substance, the gap between declaration and grounded work, between well-thought and well-worded blueprints and concrete efforts, between defining and actually making the effort towards sustainable development. It was the most sensible statement I heard during the conference I got the chance to peep into while some of the world's top policy makers, urban planners and leaders were grappling with the burgeoning problems of cities of the world. It was made more credible by the fact that it came from a leader who walks the talk, with or without a pact. Gorbachev is now at the helm of Green Cross, an international environmental group he established. I wish our leaders would take the cue and work as well on their environmental platform they flaunted and vowed to pursue when they ran for political positions but conveniently forgot the moment they won or lost in the polls. Notwithstanding Gorbachev's observation, more pacts were signed all over the world last Friday, between and among greater and lesser mortals wanting to make a difference. Some signatories have yet to, or won't care to read the documents that they will sign and therefore won't make a difference. What's important is there's a document to mark Earth Day. As Gorbachev noted, we have more than enough of environmental agreements and plans that have been fashioned out and signed. We are still working out more of these plans. In doing so, Third World countries like ours tend to follow the language, format and methods and tools of successful experiences in developed countries, from the initial discussions and trainings to the production of the feasibility studies, to the production of the short, medium and long-term plans. Often, the plans can't take off the ground, with the copies stocked and left to rot in the shelves of our planning offices, in the same state as the numerous academic theses and dissertations in university libraries. They turn to be an exercise in futility as the funding was only good for their production, with nothing left for their implementation. The best we can do is to come up with another proposal for project funding to sustain the process of planning. Meanwhile, environmental degradation worsens, or - to borrow the term that emerged during the Rio summit - continues to be sustained. The current culture of development is dictated by economics and the yardstick of the developed countries. Used to receiving their support and adopting their yardstick, we in the Third World tend to believe that nothing is do-able without funding. Experience however tells us that funding sometimes leads to a project's undoing. We tend to quarrel over it, with the initial commitment gone the moment the budget is gone, only to be renewed by the arrival of the next financial replenishment. In some instances, bulk of the funding goes to the studies, the administration of the project, the honoraria and upkeep of the development worker and the consultant. Only a pittance actually goes to the beneficiary community. Sometimes, the target community also gets a copy of the printed project report it can not comprehend, much less use to chart its progress after the development work has been terminated. As is the case in terminal reports, it is written in the jargon of sustainable development only development workers like us understand. On the other hand - and closer to home -, the Ifugaos who built the majestic rice terraces, do not have a term equivalent to "sustainable development". Concretely, however, the rice terraces their ancestors carved out of whole mountainsides centuries ago are the best examples of sustainable development. The indigenous system used in building and sustaining (oops) them over the generations worked because it was anchored on respect and reverence for the environment. Gorbachev is right. Let's have less jaw-jaw and more do-able. That's what I learned from the 44 police officers from Abra who were reassigned to Baguio last Monday. Without declaration or ceremony, the officers took to their initial beat within the city's central business district, picking up trash along the way. With that simple, unglamorous act, done voluntarily and without refreshments, much less funding, - but with the encouragement of the city police director, Sr. Supt. Isagani Nerez - they made a difference. (e-mail: [email protected] for comments) Friday April 22, 2005 Treaty Urged to Protect Human Right to Water By Haider Rizvi UNITED NATIONS, Apr 22 (IPS) - Alarmed by corporate moves to treat water as just another market commodity, leading civil society groups are urging the international community to adopt a new universal treaty to protect the right to water. ²The ratification of such a convention by the U.N. member states would give a legal instrument to all people to defend their right to clean water and sanitation,² former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, who currently leads Green Cross, an international environmental group, told reporters this week. Green Cross and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which actively took part in the just-concluded sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development related to water and sanitation policies, believe the new treaty would be helpful in drawing distinctions between the different aspects of water use and the related rights and obligations at the local, national and international level. The former Soviet leader called on the U.N. member nations to ²seriously consider² the possibility of supporting the idea of a Convention on the Right to Water. ²Should the General Assembly support this initiative this September, this would be highly appreciated by the international community and by millions of millions of people in need of water as a concrete step toward the resolution of the water crisis,² he said. ²Time is a luxury not enjoyed by those whose lives are cut cruelly short due to a lack of clean water, and the time is also running out for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),² he added. ²But we can still honour our commitments. Failure is not an option on the table today, and we will not be given the luxury of a second chance.² According to the U.N., over one billion people lack access to clean water and over two billion have no access to sanitation, the primary cause of diseases like cholera that take the lives of more than 6,000 children in poor countries every day. The right to water is mentioned in a number of international legal documents, such as the Action Plan adopted by the U.N. Water Conference in 1977, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development. In November 2002, the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also affirmed that access to adequate amounts of clean water for personal and household use is a ²fundamental human right of all people.² However, there is no international instrument that guarantees to every person the right to affordable water, obliges national authorities to respect this right, and provides a model and mechanism for its implementation. Although less than 10 percent of the world's water resources are currently controlled by the private sector, critics of privatisation warn that in the absence of a binding international treaty, in the next 10 years private companies will control more than 70 percent of water resources in North America and Europe alone. Addressing the Asian-African Summit in Jakarta Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he had called on every developed country to commit to contribute 0.7 percent of their gross national income to reach the MDGs, which seek to provide clean drinking water to 500 million people in the next 10 years. The MDGs include a 50 percent reduction in poverty and hunger; universal primary education; reduction of child mortality by two-thirds; cutbacks in maternal mortality by three-quarters; the promotion of gender equality; and the reversal of the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, all by 2015. ²The time has come for action -- concrete, measurable steps to a quantum leap in resources for development,² he said. ²The human family cannot enjoy development without security, and we will not enjoy security without development, and we cannot enjoy either without respect for human rights.² Sharing Annan's views, Gorbachev said the slow progress in achieving the MDGs was the result of ²the paralysis of political will,² while urging both donor and developing nations to double their spending from 14 billion dollars to 30 billion dollars a year to meet the water and sanitation targets. ²This is not about charity, no matter what form it takes,² he said. ²This is about equality of all people in satisfying their basic needs and about the right of every person to access clean drinking water and sanitation.² On Friday, delegates from around the world who attended the Commission on Sustainable Development, which lasted for two weeks, were still busy drafting a final statement on the policy options related to water and sanitation policies. The first draft circulated to the media, however, pointed out that ²a substantial increase² of resources would be required if developing nations, especially the least developed countries, ²are to achieve the internationally agreed development goals and targets.² (END/2005) Sat, Apr. 16, 2005 Associated Press
Jeremiah Marquez Gorbachev calls for global water treaty BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Mikhail Gorbachev is pressing world leaders to adopt a treaty guaranteeing clean water and sanitation for their people, a task he says is more daunting than ending the nuclear arms race during the Cold War. Dwindling water supplies and political resistance have hampered efforts to bring fresh water to poor people around the world, the former Soviet leader said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. "We were able to solve the nuclear arms race because of ... political will," he said before an awards banquet held by his American environmental group, Global Green USA. "Today we don't see that political will. But I think it will emerge that leaders will have to address this problem." Gorbachev will call for a first-ever international water treaty during an April 21 keynote address to the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development. He envisions a binding agreement that makes access to water and basic sanitation a human right, holds nations responsible for providing it, and governs how freshwater resources are managed and shared. A petition campaign he launched March 22 aims to pressure governments to begin negotiations that would produce the covenant. Gorbachev, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who led the Soviet Union for six years until its 1991 collapse, founded Green Cross International in 1993 to encourage business, government and non-governmental organizations to collaborate and find solutions to environmental problems. About 2.5 billion people worldwide lack water sanitation services, and 5 million die from waterborne diseases each year, according to Global Green USA, the American arm of Green Cross. Nearly 1.2 billion people do not have clean water to drink. March 23, 2005
Le Figaro Gorbatchev : « L’eau pollu�e tue chaque jour autant que trente 747 qui s’�craseraient » LE FIGARO �CONOMIE. – Vous lancez une p�tition pour inciter les gouvernements à adopter une convention-cadre sur l’eau. Qu’attendez-vous d’une structure suppl�mentaire, alors que le problème de l’eau dans le monde pâtit d�jà de l’�clatement des structures internationales qui lui sont d�di�es ? Mikhaïl GORBATCHEV. – Une convention-cadre distincte sur le droit à l’eau est essentielle. Il faut plus que jamais d�finir des priorit�s. Plus de 3 millions de gens meurent chaque ann�e parce qu’ils n’ont pas accès à l’eau potable. Il incombe aux gouvernements de faire cesser cela au plus vite. Ce droit fondamental à l’eau pour tous, « Eau pour la vie », est une priorit� absolue. La convention-cadre clarifierait les responsabilit�s, les droits et les devoirs de toutes les parties prenantes, Etats, autorit�s locales, citoyens, op�rateurs, usagers, tout en respectant les us et coutumes et surtout en pr�servant la p�rennit� de cette ressource. La nature est toujours la grande oubli�e, mais elle nous rappelle à l’ordre r�gulièrement. De plus, cette convention donnerait aux citoyens une possibilit� de recours contre les gouvernements qui ne leur fourniraient pas le minimum d’eau indispensable pour vivre dans la dignit� ». L’accès à l’eau potable progresse-t-il ? Fournir de l’eau propre et saine doit rester une priorit� absolue. Le nombre de morts dû à l’eau repr�sente l’�quivalent de 30 Boeing 747 qui s’�craseraient tous les jours ! Cela n’est pas acceptable. Les gens en prennent conscience et vont maintenant exiger de leurs gouvernements qu’ils fassent cesser ce scandale. C’est le sens de la p�tition que la Croix-Verte internationale et ses partenaires viennent de lancer. L’eau est source de vie dans la nature. Pour l’homme, l’eau est aussi source de coh�sion sociale. Dans les villages et les villes, l’eau participe à la cr�ation de richesses à travers l’industrie, l’agriculture, l’hydro�lectricit�. Dans ses « Objectifs du mill�naire », l’ONU veut r�duire de moiti� le nombre de gens qui n’ont pas accès à l’eau potable d’ici à 2015. Est-ce r�aliste ? Parfaitement, ce sont des objectifs pragmatiques, c’est le minimum acceptable. L’accès à l’eau ne doit pas être r�serv� à certains. Nous devons atteindre le plus vite possible l’accès universel à l’eau. Selon les �tudes du Pnue et du Pnud, il faudrait entre 10 et 20 milliards d’euros par an pendant dix ans pour fournir l’eau et l’assainissement aux milliards d’êtres humains qui n’y ont pas droit. Soit l’�quivalent de 10 à 20 euros par an et par habitant des pays riches. Si nous demandions aux Français si cela est trop cher pay�, je suis convaincu de leur r�ponse. Il est essentiel de mobiliser les bonnes volont�s et de convaincre les gouvernements du Nord et du Sud que l’eau est un problème que l’on ne peut r�soudre qu’à l’�chelle de la planète. Malheureusement, ce sont les pays les plus pauvres qui reçoivent le moins d’aide. Certains groupes priv�s ont connu des d�boires dans des pays �mergents. Quand il s’agit de l’eau, le modèle du partenariat public-priv� est-il toujours pertinent ? L’eau est un bien public ; la responsabilit� de la bonne gestion de la ressource revient entièrement aux gouvernements. Il peut arriver que les pouvoirs publics d�cident de faire appel au secteur priv� pour fournir certains services. Pourquoi pas ? Mais les règles du jeu doivent être claires et les pouvoirs publics devraient toujours garder le contrôle de ce bien public. En ont-ils toujours les moyens ? Certainement pas. Il faut donc des règles internationales, des codes de bonne conduite, contrôl�s par les citoyens. La participation et l’implication de toutes les parties prenantes sont là encore essentielles : c’est la d�mocratie participative. Le partenariat publicpriv� doit impliquer r�ellement les citoyens. Et puis, ne l’oubliez pas, le secteur priv� dans le domaine des services de l’eau est là pour faire des b�n�fices, il n’est pas là pour fournir de l’eau gratuitement. Ce n’est pas sa mission. Il ne faut pas m�langer les genres. Le stockage, la distribution, le traitement de l’eau ont un coût, ce qui ne veut pas dire que tous les usagers doivent payer le même prix. C. M. March 22 2005
Associated Press Leonardo DiCaprio helps launch global campaign for clean water SAN FRANCISCO - Actor Leonardo DiCaprio helped environmentalists launch an international campaign Tuesday to draw attention to the hundreds of millions of people worldwide who don't have access to clean water. "We are here to help raise awareness about what is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today - the lack of clean water for billions of people around the world," said DiCaprio, speaking on World Water Day at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco with Global Green USA President Matt Petersen. DiCaprio, who earned a best-actor nomination this year for playing Howard Hughes in "The Aviator," signed a petition that calls on President Bush and other government leaders to commit to a legally binding United Nations treaty declaring clean water a basic human right. DiCaprio screened a short film he helped produce that highlights the need to conserve the world's limited supply of fresh water and provide greater access to the more than 1.2 billion people without clean water. The film, called "Water Planet," will be distributed starting next month on the Internet, at film festivals and to television stations and schools to educate the public about what DiCaprio calls the "growing global water crisis." About 2.5 billion people worldwide lack water sanitation services, and five million people die from waterborne diseases each year, according to Global Green USA Sat, Mar 19 2005
Voice of America Non-Government Groups Launch Safe Water Campaign: A consortium of more than 60 international non-governmental organizations says it will launch a global campaign on the Right to Water on March 22, which is World Water Day. The activists say they want the United Nations to begin negotiations for a legally binding Convention to provide safe, clean water for millions of people around the world.
full article> Thu, Mar. 17, 2005
Mail and Guardian Water, say some experts, is a much more likely reason for countries to go to war than oil, and in the largely arid countries along the river Nile in northeastern Africa, the lack of water risks bringing neighbours dangerously close to armed conflict.
Full article >> March 16, 2005
People/Water/World Green Cross International launches a world campaign for 10 million signatures Geneva, March 16 (KUNA) – Green Cross International announced Thursday a grass roots campaign to gather some 10 million signatures to support their call for an International Convention –The Global Treaty to the Right to Water - for securing and managing water worldwide. President of Green Cross International Alexander Likhotal told reporters that his organization is soliciting the assistance of GOOGLE to facilitate the signatures in support of the campaign. He noted that the collection of signatures will stretch over a period of three years, and added that the Green Cross International would like to turn the issue of water scarcity into an issue that is of concern to millions of people across the globe. Vice-President of Green Cross Bertrand Charrier, noted that Morocco supports the proposed convention, and there are several others lined in the pipeline. Likhotal noted that every day 10,000 people die because of the water related diseases and shortages, and every eight seconds a child dies because of water contamination, and in the past ten years diarrhea has killed more children than all the people who were killed in armed conflicts since World War Two. While the Director-General of the United Nations in Geneva Sergei Ordzhonikidze, said that one billion do not have access to a clean and adequate water supply. Ordzhonikidze, added that nearly 2.5 billion people live without basic sanitation, "Lack of safe water contributes to an estimated 80 % of disease and death in the developing world," said Ordzhonikidze. Ordzhonikidze added that in 20 years 2 out of 3 people in the world will suffer from water shortages if no action is taken now decisively. President of the Swiss Organization Committee for the Alternative World Water Forum 2005 Alberto Velasco told reporters that the second forum will open Thursday in Geneva through Saturday and would act on the need to establish a global fund to finance activities that would allow every human being a 50 liter water consignment free of charge and delivered by his or her government. |
