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	Every three seconds a child of the Global South dies of dirty water by Meera Karunananthan, Maude Barlow Council of Canadians, Blue Planet Project, agencies Canada   June 2014   By focusing on access rather than on rights, the UN sustainable development goal on water won''t eliminate inequality, writes Meera Karunananthan.   One of the biggest threats to economic and social development is that the world''s freshwater supplies are rapidly becoming scarce and polluted. A new set of actors are now engaging in the global development arena to define and write the rules of access to water.   It is alarming to see that the human right to water and sanitation continues to be marginalised in UN policy discussions. The exclusion of this right to water in the most recent draft of the sustainable development goals reveals policy more conducive to promoting water security for economic growth than ensuring the preservation of watersheds and the equitable distribution of scarce water supplies.   When the UN general assembly passed a resolution in 2010 affirming water and sanitation as a human right, it was celebrated as a victory for communities dealing with the health impacts of polluted water, the indignity of not having access to clean drinking water and sanitation or the inability to produce food owing to water shortages. Social movements saw the human right to water and sanitation as a tool in the fight against a global water crisis produced by inequality, social exclusion and abuse of the water commons.   The global water crisis is also a big concern for industries seeking secure access to water supplies to sustain and expand operations in a never-ending quest for economic growth. The extractive industries, large drinks companies, big banks investing in water stocks, and companies involved in providing water and sanitation services have positioned themselves as stakeholders within global water policy discussions and as being able to provide solutions to the crisis.   The latest trend in global and national water policy is for corporations to participate in decision-making bodies and promote corporate-driven solutions through public-private partnerships. Over the past decade or so, the efforts of corporations such as Nestlé and Unilever to engage in global water policy discussions has shifted the debate from one of injustice and inequality to a depoliticised discussion of scarcity solved by technological fixes. These are offered by multinational corporations and market mechanisms that further deregulate water resource allocation.   When global policymakers – including the working group on sustainable development goals (SDGs) – focus simply on improving "water efficiency" for these ever-expanding industries without anchoring discussions of access to water as a right, they are ignoring communities that are challenging the very presence of the industries that are destroying watersheds.   The human right to water and sanitation holds promise for these communities. It has been invoked in Plachimada, in south India, to challenge Coca Cola''s access to aquifers; by anti-mining activists throughout Latin America; and, more recently, by the Kalahari Bushmen in a struggle to access traditional water sources on land coveted by industries such as tourism, diamond mining and fracking.   It has also been used to democratise water and sanitation services. In Uruguay, recognition of the human right to water led to the ban of private water services. When a recent ruling by a top Greek court blocked the privatisation of the country''s largest water utility, in Athens, it was a victory for activists across Europe who had condemned forced privatisation through loan conditions in bailout packages for Greece, Portugal and Italy.   So it is deeply troubling that the human right to water continues to be contested at the UN. For those living without access to adequate drinking water and sanitation, the SDG on water focuses on universal access. As special rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque argues that an emphasis on universality alone fails to eliminate inequality.   At the very minimum, the human right to water calls for the elimination of discrimination and the adoption of special measures for marginalised communities. Social movements pursuing public control over water supplies, and democratic and participatory governance models, are also drawn to the elements of public participation in decision-making, accountability and access to justice underscored by the human right to water.   While this right is hardly the silver bullet for all global water woes, it goes a long way towards balancing unequal power relationships.   http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/jun/19/un-human-right-water-access-goal   Every three seconds a child of the Global South dies of dirty water, by Maude Barlow.   Every generation faces a unique political reality and set of concerns it needs to tackle together and yours is the multiple threats to the earth itself from over-exploitation, pollution and the growth imperative.   From the diminishing life in the oceans, and the destruction of old growth forests, to the clear limits of a fossil fuel economy, our Mother Earth is suffering, as are countless millions around the world.   Water is the issue I know best. Fresh water supplies are rapidly being destroyed due to a "perfect storm" of pollution, climate change, over-mining of groundwater, and watershed destruction where humans move massive amounts of water from lakes, rivers and aquifers to quench the thirst of cities, industry and mega farms.   When we are done with it, we dump that water (usually untreated) into the oceans as waste, leaving landscapes parched behind us. As a result, many parts of the world are literally running out of available fresh water -- something we were taught as children could never happen -- and almost three billion people do not have access to clean water within a kilometre of their homes.   Every three seconds a child of the Global South dies of dirty water. The lack of access to water kills more children worldwide than all forms of violence together, including war.   Even here in Canada, we have taken our water for granted and are among the worst water wasters in the world. We don"t protect or properly map our groundwater. Our Great Lakes are in crisis, with one study warning they could be "bone dry"in 80 years. Our national water act is forty five years old and in desperate need of updating.   Canadians consume about 3 billion plastic bottles of commercial water every year. Since we only recycle about 35 per cent of these bottles, we discard mountains of plastic garbage in our lakes, rivers, forests and landfills where they will take at least 500 years to break down.   Mining and heavy oil extractions are destroying many freshwater lakes and rivers in Canada, allowing giant dams of poisoned water to contaminate groundwater sources. Yet recent changes to freshwater regulations mean that 99 per cent of all our lakes and rivers are entirely unprotected by federal law.   Sadly there is still a water and santitation crisis on many First Nations communities, where residents are 90 per cent more likely to be without running water than other Canadians. Yet Canada was the last country in the world to ratify the UN General Assembly resolution recognizing the human right to water, an enormously important step for the global community to take.   We who are blessed to live in a water wealthy country have a special responsibility to find solutions to this global crisis and as well, to be good stewards of our own precious water resources by protecting our watersheds, wetlands and aquifers and ensuring safe, clean drinking water as a public trust and a human right. There is much work to do.   Do not listen to those who say there is nothing you can do to the very large and very real social and environmental problems that beset our world. I am not now talking about a false sense of optimism based on ignoring the several very real crises we face.   But there is so much room for hope and such a need to bring joy and excitement to our commitment to a different future. I swear to you that it is true -- the life of an activist is a good life, because you get up in the morning caring about more than just yourself or how to make more money. A life of activism gives hope (a moral imperative in this work), energy and direction. You meet the best people. You help transform systems and ideas and you commit to leaving the earth in at least as whole a state as you inherited it because every generation has the right to breathe clean air and drink sweet clean water.   And you may very well find yourself inside an important fight for all humanity. Recently, I was part of a delegation to the United Nations, where we presented a new idea to the Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, and the General Assembly.   Because our civil society movements believe that there are no human rights if there are no protections for the earth, air, water, forests, wetlands and other species, we presented the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth which we hope will become, with time, the companion to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.   This concept was met with great enthusiasm from the Secretary General and many country delegates and I believe with my heart that it is only a matter of time before it becomes a cornerstone of public policy both at the United Nations and in every country and community in the world.   As Cormac Cullinan, a leading advocate for the rights of nature, explains: The day will come when the failure of our laws to recognize the right of a river to flow, to prohibit acts that destabilize the Earth"s climate, or to impose a duty to respect the intrinsic value and right to exist of all life will be as reprehensible as allowing people to be bought and sold. We will only flourish by changing these systems and claiming our identify, as well as assuming our responsibilities, as members of the Earth community.   The late, great American scientist and environmentalist, Carl Sagan, who said: Anything else you are interested in is not going to happen if you cannot breathe the air and drink the water. Don"t sit this one out! Do something! You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet.   * Maude Barlow is the national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, chairperson of Food and Water Watch in the U.S., and co-founder of the Blue Planet Project, which is instrumental in the international community in working for the right to water for all people.   http://www.blueplanetproject.net/index.php/right-to-water-must-be-recognized-in-sustainable-development-goals-say-civil-society-groups/ http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/pressreleases/epas-carbon-rule-falls-short-of-real-emissions-reduction/   Researchers urge Global Energy Paradigm Shift, by Nadia Prupis.(Common Dreams)   The world risks an "insurmountable" water crisis by 2040 without an immediate and significant overhaul of energy consumption and demand, a research team reported this week.   "There will be no water by 2040 if we keep doing what we''re doing today," said Professor Benjamin Sovacool of Denmark''s Aarhus University, who co-authored two reports on the world''s rapidly decreasing sources of freshwater.   Many troubling global trends could worsen these baseline projected shortages. According to the report, water resources around the world are "increasingly strained by economic development, population growth, and climate change." The World Resources Institute estimates that in India, "water demand will outstrip supply by as much as 50 percent by 2030, a situation worsened further by the country''s likely decline of available freshwater due to climate change," the report states. "Power demand could more than double in northern China, more than triple in India, and increase by almost three-quarters in Texas."   "If we keep doing business as usual, we are facing an insurmountable water shortage — even if water was free, because it''s not a matter of the price," Sovacool said. "There''s no time to waste. We need to act now."   In addition to an expanding global population, economic development, and an increasing demand for energy, the report also finds that the generation of electricity is one of the biggest sources of water consumption throughout the world, using up more water than even the agricultural industry. Unlike less water-intensive alternative sources of energy like wind and solar systems, fossil fuel-powered and nuclear plants need enormous and continued water inputs to function, both for fueling thermal generators and cooling cycles.   The reports, Capturing Synergies Between Water Conservation and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the Power Sector and A Clash of Competing Necessities: Water Adequacy and Electric Reliability in China, India, France, and Texas and published after three years of research by Aarhus University, Vermont Law School and CNA Corporation, show that most power plants do not even log how much water they use to keep the systems going.   "It''s a huge problem that the electricity sector do not even realize how much water they actually consume," Sovacool said. "And together with the fact that we do not have unlimited water resources, it could lead to a serious crisis if nobody acts on it soon."   Unless water use is drastically minimized, the researchers found that widespread drought will affect between 30 and 40 percent of the planet by 2020, and another two decades after that will see a severe water shortage that would affect the entire planet. The demand for both energy and drinking water would combine to aggressively speed up drought, which in turn could exacerbate large-scale health risks and other global development problems.   "The policy and technology choices made to meet demand will have immense implications for water withdrawals and consumption, and may also have significant economic, human health, and development consequences," the report states.   The research says that utilizing alternative energy sources like wind and solar systems is vital to mitigating water consumption enough to stave off the crisis. "Unsubsidized wind power costs... are currently lower than coal or nuclear and they are continuing to drop," the report states. When faced with its worst drought in 2011, Texas got up to 18 of its electricity from wind power and was able to avoid the kind of rolling blackouts that plague parts of China, where existing water shortages prevent power plants from operating.   An equally important step would be to shutter "thirsty" fossil fuel facilities in areas that are already experiencing water shortages, like China and India, where carbon emissions can be significantly more impactful.   "We have to decide where we spend our water in the future," Sovacool said. "Do we want to spend it on keeping the power plants going or as drinking water? We don''t have enough water to do both."
	The world has become a less peaceful place by Global Peace Index, Thomson Reuters Foundation   18 June 2014   Violent conflict and unrest cost the world $1,350 per person globally, according to the Global Peace Index.   The economic cost of containing and dealing with the consequences of global violence last year was an estimated $9.8 trillion, 11.3 percent of global economic output, up 3.8 percent from 2012, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).   Syria displaced Afghanistan as the world’s least peaceful nation due to its civil war, while Iceland maintained its status as the most peaceful country, the IEP said in its annual Global Peace Index.   The United States dropped in its ranking in the index, because of the Boston marathon bombings, while Russia remained one of the poorest performers, ranking 152nd.   Terrorist activity, the number of conflicts, and an increase in the number of refugees and displaced persons were key contributors to the continuing deterioration in global peacefulness last year, according to the IEP.   It was the seventh successive year in which the world had become a less peaceful place according to the index, which gauges conflict, unrest, safety, security, militarisation and defence spending by assessing 22 indicators from 162 countries.   That pattern reversed a trend towards increasing global peacefulness following the end of World War II.   “Given the deteriorating global situation we cannot be complacent about the institutional bedrocks for peace,” said Steve Killelea, the institute’s executive chairman.   “This is a wakeup call to governments, development agencies, investors and the wider international community that building peace is the prerequisite for economic and social development.”   Europe kept its position as the most peaceful region with 14 of the 20 most peaceful countries. The new rankings also reflected an increase in military spending in China, which was ranked 108th.   South Sudan, where civil war threatens to tear apart the world’s newest nation just three years after its birth, experienced the largest drop and now ranks as the third least peaceful country. Iraq ranked 159th even before the latest sectarian violence.   Major deteriorations also occurred in Egypt, Ukraine and Central African Republic.   Using new statistical modelling techniques, the IEP identified 10 countries it believes to be most threatened by increased levels of unrest and violence in the next two years: Zambia, Haiti, Argentina, Chad, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nepal, Burundi, Georgia, Liberia and Qatar.   The conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan and Central African Republic helped drag down the annual Global Peace Index, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP).   Rising numbers of people were killed in militant attacks across the Middle East, South Asia and Africa while murder rates rose in the emerging world"s growing urban centres. More people also became refugees by fleeing fighting.   Crime and conflict rates in more developed regions, particularly Europe, generally fell, said the report.   The deterioration appeared the most significant fall in 60 years, the IEP said.   "There seem to be a range of causes," Steve Killelea, founder and executive chairman of the IEP, told Reuters. "You have the repercussions of the "Arab Spring", the rise of terrorism particularly following the invasion of Iraq and the repercussions of the global financial crisis."   The study examines 22 indicators across 162 countries, including military spending, homicide rates and deaths from conflict, civil disobedience and terrorism.   Syria and Afghanistan were rated the least peaceful countries in the world, with South Sudan, Central African Republic, Ukraine and Egypt showing some of the sharpest falls in security levels.   Iceland held its number one position as most peaceful.   While the United States and Western European states are largely cutting defence spending, China, Russia, countries along their borders and most Middle Eastern states are buying more arms as tensions rise.   Killelea said overall, measures of human rights from Amnesty International and the U.S. State Department showed some improvement.   Deaths classed as being due to terrorism, however, continued to rise in the developing world and particularly countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan and others. Visit the related web page
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