(April 2, 2009, Jeff Conant, AlterNet)
As the Fifth World Water Forum ended recently in Istanbul, a number of stories came out, each of which might have emerged as the main water story of the week. But in fact, to see the most important story of the Forum you have to look beyond the Forum itself. [...]
(March 27, 2009, The Seattle Times)
In a first-ever pledge for American presidents, Barack Obama in his inaugural address included a promise to the world’s poor nations — “to work alongside you to … let clean waters flow.”
The moment is an acute one as the world faces “water bankruptcy” as threatening as today’s financial meltdown. The [...]
(March 24, 2009, DailyKos)
Sunday marked World Water Day, a UN designated day for international experts on our most critical scarce resource to get together and remind the entire world that, yes indeed, our most critical resource–fresh water–is awfully darned scarce.
A little closer to home, the Western Resource Advocates have already made their contribution to the [...]
(March 22, 2009, Reuters)
If water is the new oil, is blue the new green?
Translation: if water is now the kind of precious commodity that oil became in the 20th century, should delivery of clean water be the same sort of powerful political force as the environmental movement in an age of climate change?
And, in another [...]
(March 22, 2009, GreenCarCongress)
Xinhua. North China’s Hebei Province, the major water supplier to Beijing, has over-extracted its groundwater, causing major subsidence according to a water conservancy official.
“Water shortage has become a big problem facing the province’s social and economic development,” Li Qinglin, director of Hebei’s water conservancy department, told a forum marking the 17th World [...]
(March 20, 2009, Ben Block, WorldChanging)
In his inauguration speech in January, U.S. President Barack Obama mentioned four words that lifted the hearts of water advocates worldwide: “Let clean water flow.”
Although Obama has proposed doubling U.S. spending on foreign aid, his new budget, released last month, offers few details on whether the additional funding will support [...]
(March 20, 2009, Citizen News Service)
The President of the United Nations General Assembly has told delegates at the 5th World Water Forum (WWF) in Istanbul, Turkey, that, “those who are committed to the privatization of water, making it a commodity like oil, are denying people a human right as basic as the air we breathe.”
In [...]
Teach a Man How to Fish, but Take Away His Right to Fish: Water Policy, Water Police, Water Rights (LeakBird)There’s an interesting ESPN article on the coming water policy crisis in America, in the context of fish and wildlife. Wikipedia defines the word “policy” as “a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s)“. Of course, it’s rooted in the word “police” as well, which “stems from the Greek word ‘politeia’ [...]
(March 18, 2009, Jeff Conant, Alternet)
Behind the World Water Forum’s public posture as a trade expo and an educational exchange among water advocates lies a labyrinth of political intrigue and corporate cronyism. Corporate interests that make up the World Water Council are in constant contact with the World Bank and other financial institutions; each Forum [...]
(March 18, 2009, The New York Times)
Don’t expect the future to look much like the past, at least when it comes to the Earth’s fresh water supplies. That’s the message emerging from a major international meeting being held here this week.
More than 27,000 people — including government ministers from more than 120 countries — have [...]
(March 17, 2009, The Associated Press)
The global economic crisis threatens to shrink investment in water infrastructure, an already underfunded sector vital to growth and public health, the World Bank said Tuesday
The first global economic contraction since World War II threatens to overshadow the scarcity of clean water in many poor regions, where inadequate sanitation is [...]
(March 16, 2009, TerraDaily)
Tens of billions of dollars are needed annually to fix the world’s water systems, but policies to address the global financial crisis could help meet the target, the OECD says.In a report to the World Water Forum in Istanbul, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says demands for fresh water [...]
(March 17, 2009, Bloomberg)
Mexico plans to tackle a chronic shortage of clean water by building an $800 million purification plant for its sprawling capital city of 20 million inhabitants.
The facility to treat 23 cubic meters (6,076 gallons) of rain and runoff each second will be announced for bid on March 31 by Conagua, the nation’s [...]
(March 16, 2009, The Environment News Service)
Global demand for water is greater today than it has ever been and demand will increase in the future, thousands of delegates to the Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul heard at their opening session today. Driving the demand for water are population growth and mobility, rising living standards, [...]
(March 13, 2009, The New York Times)
Give I.B.M. credit for technological ambition and a willingness to tackle big problems.
I.B.M. is presenting a new bundle of services and research offerings at the World Water Forum in Istanbul on Monday. The package, grandly called Strategic Water Management Solutions, is the most recent entry in I.B.M.’s so-called smart [...]
(Feb. 26, 2009, Ceres)
Global climate change is exacerbating water scarcity problems around the world, yet few businesses and investors are paying attention to this growing financial threat, according to a report issued today by Ceres and the Pacific Institute.
Water is crucial for the global economy – driving every industry from agriculture to electric power to [...]
(Feb. 5, 2009, TheNewSecurityBeat)
“The concept of ‘peak water’ is very analogous to peak oil…we’re using fossil groundwater. That is, we’re pumping groundwater faster than nature naturally recharges it,” says Peter Gleick in this short expert analysis from the Environmental Change and Security Program. Gleick, president and co-founder of the Pacific Institute and author of the [...]
(Jan. 29, 2009, WorldChanging)
Looking for a way to update yourself on the state of the world’s water? On Wed., Feb. 4, Peter Gleick, one of the world’s leading authorities on water issues, will present The World’s Water 2008-2009 biannual report. This volume provides up-to-date information and analysis on water topics such as peak water, how [...]
(Jan. 28, 2009, Treehugger)
Last week, delegates from around the world met in Rome to help set the agenda for the 5th World Water Forum, which will be held in Istanbul this March. They talked about the effects of population pressure, increased energy demand, climate change, and agriculture on water supplies and quality, and the need [...]
(Jan. 21, 2009, UN News Centre)
Water supplies for over a billion people around the world are under threat from increasing populations, expanding cities, industrialization, climate change and even the rising demand for food, warned the United Nations, as delegates from more than 60 countries kicked off a meeting today in preparation for the upcoming World [...]
