Posted by WTO Watch Qld on March 17, 2002 at 00:05:39:
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
The Law locks up the hapless felon who steals the goose from off the common, but lets the greater felon loose who steals the common from the goose
Proverb, source unknown
The GATS extends into areas never before recognized as trade policy.
Former WTO Director General Renato Ruggiero, June 2, 1998.
1) COMING EVENTS
2) FOCUS ON WATER
a) Background
b) Privatisation and the World Bank
c) A Plan of Action to Protect the Global Water Commons
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1) COMING EVENTS
Friday, March 22nd is World Water Day.
In SYDNEY, a press conference will be held at Parliament House:
When: Friday, 22nd March 2002
Where: Jubilee Room - Parliament House, Macquarie St, Sydney
Time: 10am-11:30 am
Speakers Include: (DRAFT)
Melita Grant (AID/WATCH) - Water Privatisation and Poverty
Patricia Ranald (Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network - AFTINET) - Water and Trade Agreements
Lee Rhiannon (The GREENS)
Speaker (TBA) - The World Bank and Water Privatisation
Nature Conservation Council - Water Policy Issues in Australia
Discussion
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In the ACT, the Greens are organising a launch at the ACT Assembly exhibition room, hosted by Kerrie Tucker, Greens MLA.
For further info, contact Kathryn Kelly at kathk@orac.net.au
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In BRISBANE, the Alliance to Expose GATS and its affiliated bodies will be putting out media releases. The Qld Greens and the Qld Democrats will also put out media releases and Democrat Senator John Cherry will endeavour to raise the matter in Parliament.
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2) FOCUS ON WATER
a) The privatisation and commodification of the world's fresh water supplies is proceeding via a two pronged approach. As you will see from the fact sheet below, prepared by AIDWATCH, the World Bank is imposing water privatisation on developing countries in three core ways.
However, the world's fesh water is also at risk of privatisation and commercialisation from international trade agreements, especially the General Agreement on Trade in Services.(GATS)
Australia has made extensive GATS commitments under the heading of 'Environmental Services.' Environmental services currently includes such services as sewage services, sanitation and similar services and refuse disposal.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has submitted a negotiating proposal to the WTO's Council for Trade in Services recommending that the classification of services be extended to include ' ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA eg AIR, WATER, SOLID AND HAZARDOUS WASTE, NOISE ETC.'
See http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/services/np_environmental.html
This should be of major concern to all Australians.
The World Social Forum held in Porte Allegro earlier in the year was attended by 60000 people from around the world, all seeking alternatives to the kind of globalisation being promoted by the WTO, the World Bank and the corporations. Common themes began to emerge at Porto Alegre, and one area of broad agreement was the concept of the 'global commons' - certain areas of life which are, or should be, public - common - property, protected in perpetuity from privatisation and commodification.
Such areas include the world's genetic and biological heritage, basic needs like water and the atmosphere, public services (particularly health and education), the airwaves, and the land.
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b) Privatisation and the World Bank
Water Facts
Less than one half of a percent of water on earth is available fresh water. The rest is ocean, or frozen in ice caps.
According to the United Nations, more than a billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and more than 2.4 billion people lack adequate sanitation.
More than five million people, most of them children, die each year from illnesses caused from drinking unsafe water.
Global consumption of water is doubling every 20 years, more than twice the rate of human population growth.
If current trends persist, by 2025 the demand for freshwater is expected to rise to 56% above the amount that is currently available - which will result in as much as 2/3 of the world population unable to gain access to clean water.
The privatisation of the water industry is already a $400 billion a year business globally - That makes it one third larger than global pharmaceutical's.
In the U.S. alone, private water corporations generate revenues of more than $80 billion (U.S.) a year - four times the annual sales of Microsoft.
Ten corporate giants are vying for control of water - The top three are French companies, a US, German and five of UK origin.
Four of the top ten water companies are ranked among the 100 largest corporations in the world by the Global Fortune 500.
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What are the problems with privatising water sources and services?
Increases inequality - Privatising advantages those who can pay - it forces people to choose between necessities such as water or health care, education or food.
Trade agreements - When water is treated as a private commodity, it is open to the same conditions as other tradeable goods. Governments are signing International trade and investment agreements which supersede national law, resulting in them losing their ability to protect water sources. Corporations have the capital to continue purchasing water, whereas citizens, especially the poor may not be able to afford it.
Environment - As soon as a price is put on water, who is going to buy it for the environment? As corporations are dependent on increased consumption to generate profits they are much more likely to invest in desalination, diversion or exporting water as opposed to conservation measures.
Threatens Democracy - Democratic and community involvement in water management decisions is essential. World Bank agreements, however, are considered to be "intellectual property" and therefore the public has no access to the terms or details of Bank projects that affect their lives. The IMF and the World Bank are not appropriate institutions to be making decisions about water management as they are not democratic, accountable or transparent institutions.
Health Risks - Water management and testing companies have concealed information about health risks, resulting in widespread illness, and in some cases death. Water corporations are primarily interested in profits, not the health of people.
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The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are pushing the privatisation of water in three core ways:
Imposing water privatisation as a condition of loans and debt relief
Financing water transnationals in preference to public enterprises
Encouraging governments to sell water utilities to reduce national debt
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank believe that abandoning state-owned enterprises for privately-owned and managed firms will improve the economic efficiency of water management, with positive downstream benefits such as reduced public debt and improved management of the national budget. The general practice of the World Bank is to discourage debt and deficit-ridden governments from subsidising water and to push for full cost recovery from water consumers. Cost recovery involves water consumers paying the cost of operating, maintaining, and expanding the water utility. These policies in reality, have forced people to pay as much as 1/3 of their income on purchasing water, leading to chronic poverty.
What is the relationship between the IMF and the World Bank in terms of privatising water?
The World Bank and IMF are actively assisting corporations to cash in on this potential blue gold mine.
The World Bank has the primary responsibility for "structural" issues such as the privatisation of state owned companies. Therefore, it can be presumed that in countries where IMF loan conditions include water privatisation or cost recovery requirements, there are corresponding World Bank loan conditions and water projects that are implementing the financial, managerial, and engineering details required for "restructuring" the water sector.
Case Study Examples
"Globalisation Challenge Initiative", a Non-Government Organisation based in Washington conducted a review of IMF loan policies in 40 countries for the year 2000, and found that 12 agreements contained conditions imposing water privatisation. In general, it found that African countries and the smallest, poorest and most debt ridden countries are the places where loan documents reveal IMF conditions on water privatisation.
Indonesia (1997)
In 1997 the World Bank sponsored the privatisation of water in Jakarta, Indonesia, then still under the dictatorship of Suharto. The assets were split between Thames Water (UK) and Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux (France), each of which was partnering with a company run by one of Suharto’s cronies. Prices went up sharply, and jobs and salaries were cut. Since the overthrow of Suharto, Indonesian democrats and water workers have demanded that the whole deal should be scrapped because it originated from corruption – but the World Bank has not supported them.
Buenos Aires
The second largest water corporation - Suez Lyonnaise promised to invest $1 billion dollars to privatise the water system of Buenos Aires, but in the end only put up $30 million. The rest came from the World Bank.
Cochabamba - Bolivia (1999)
In 1999, Bolivia's government finally agreed to privatise the public water system as a condition for receiving a US$25 million loan from the World Bank. Only one bid was considered, and the utility was turned over to a subsidiary of a conglomerate led by Bechtel. Within weeks, the company doubled and tripled local water rates. Families earning less than $60 per month were hit with bills of as high as $20. Faced with water bills they simply could not afford, the people responded with a series of protests, shutting the city down for a week and refusing to pay. Military forces seeking to squelch the protest used not only tear gas but live rounds, killing a 17-year-old boy and injuring more than 100 people.
The people of Cochabamba stood strong and eventually the government and the company were forced to back down, suspending the contract and rolling back the water hikes.
Following powerful criticism of the Bank at the World Water Forum in the Netherlands in March 2000, the Bank’s Senior Water Adviser, John Briscoe, wrote a staff memo stating:
"it is clear that the emerging consensus in the Bank on the importance of private sector participation and pricing is not shared by most of the communities with which we interact."
So what are they going to do about it?
Sources: Global Challenge Initiative; Bank Information Centre, www.bicusa.org; Barlow, M., (2001) Blue Gold: The Global Water Crisis and the Commodification of the World’s Water Supply- International Forum on Globalization, www.ifg.org
Email: Melita Grant at aidwatch@mpx.com.au
Ph: +61 2 9387 5210 Fax: +61 2 9386 1497
Post: P.O. Box 652 WOOLLAHRA
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c) Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 10:15:51 -0500
From: Patricia Perdue < BLUE PLANET PROJECT A PLAN OF ACTION TO PROTECT THE GLOBAL WATER COMMONS Background The international citizens' movement against corporate globalization has rightly identified the private assault on the world's freshwater as a crucial threat to humanity and the earth. Just as we are beginning to understand the terrifying dimensions of the depletion, diversion and destruction of this finite resource, powerful transnational corporations are moving in to take advantage of the coming water crisis. It is their intention to commodify the water systems of the earth. Some are startlingly open; the decline in fresh water supplies and standards has created a wonderful venture opportunity for water corporations and their investors, they boast. The agenda is clear: water should be treated like any other tradeable good, with its use determined by the principles of profit. Private water companies are aggressively working with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to force developing countries to privatize water services. They are also using international trade agreements like the World Trade Organization and the Free Trade Area of the Americas to take down domestic laws that restrict their access to water now protected by nation-states. Private corporations have enormous clout with the United Nations and have worked closely with the UN and the World Bank to take control of the World Water Forum, a powerful water-policy think tank made up of governments, international financial institutions and professional water associations. Given free rein by governments intent on deregulation and global competition, these water corporations are leading the global dialogue on what to do about the world's water crisis. Price water, they say in chorus; put it up for sale and let the market determine its future. For them, the debate is closed. Water, says the World Bank and the United Nations, is a "human need," not a "human right." These are not semantics; the difference in interpretation is crucial. A human need can be supplied many ways, especially for those with money. No one can sell a human right. So far, most of this activity has taken place without public consultation or public input. The assumption has been made by the powerful forces of governments and their corporate sector that the debate is over; "everyone" agrees to the commodification of water. And yet, no-one has yet really given the world's citizens the opportunity to debate the hard political questions about water. It is time for the citizens of the world to take charge of this debate before it is too late. There is an urgent need for a global plan of action based on the belief that water belongs to the earth and all species and is a fundamental human right. We at the Blue Planet Project are calling for the launch of an international campaign - rooted in the twin foundations of conservation and equity - to keep water as part of the global commons. This campaign must start now and take root in every country and society in the world. The Treaty Initiative While there are many steps to be taken to protect and restore the earth's freshwater sources, we believe that the most important tool to keep it from being privatized is a treaty initiative to be adopted by organizations and governments around the world. Those who sign it agree to maintain water as a global commons for all time and pledge to actively do all they can to protect it. The treaty, drafted by Jeremy Rifkin and Maude Barlow, was launched at the Council of Canadian's Summit Water for People and Nature, that took place in Vancouver, Canada, on July 4-8, 2001, and was unanimously endorsed by 1000 delegates from 40 countries. It was also endorsed by the over 100 NGOs and social movements who attended the December, 2001, meeting of the Our World is Not For Sale Network in Brussells. We proclaim these truths to be universal and indivisible: That the intrinsic value of the Earth's fresh water That the Earth's fresh water belongs to the earth and all species and That the global fresh water supply is a shared legacy, a public trust Whereas, the world's finite supply of available fresh water is being Whereas governments around the world have failed to protect their Therefore, the nations of the world declare the Earth's fresh water supply to be a global commons, to be protected and nurtured by all peoples, communities and governments of The parties to this treaty - to include signatory nation states and For more information or to join the treaty initiative visit the Campaign Plan Launch Each country would then undertake a campaign to have its government adopt the treaty. The aim is to put pressure on all of our governments as they prepare for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio+10) to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, August 26th to September 4th 2002. Essentially, in every country and starting immediately, governments must be pressured to agree to adopt the Treaty when it is presented by our citizens' movement in Johannesburg. As well, work must begin immediately to get the support of other NGOs that will be attending the Summit and build toward a global civil society adoption of the principles behind it. Rio+10 Many observers are expecting a powerful push at the World Summit on Sustainable Development by the World Bank, the WTO, cash-strapped governments, and the United Nations, prompted by corporate interests, to turn to the private sector for the answers of the world's environmental problems. Citing massive failure to accomplish the goals set out at the first Rio Summit, many key players are likely to declare that governments are just not up to the task of cleaning up the world's pollution and will call upon the private sector to step up to the plate. Water is one of two "official" themes of the Summit, and we know that the water companies, the World Bank and others, will be using the Summit to aggressively promote the commodification of water. It is imperative that there be an alternative vision for the world's water future at Rio+10, and the international civil society movement must provide that vision. Water is a very important issue in South Africa; its unequitable distribution a tragedy. It appears that the politics of water injustice will be recreated at the Summit which is to be held in the wealthy suburb of Sandton - the Third World's richest large suburb. The South African government is building a gargantuan luxurious complex for the Summit that will include shopping malls, exclusive restaurants and movie theatres. But Sandton, with its huge estates with English gardens and swimming pools, is right next door to Alexandra Township, one of the poorest communities on the African Continent. Between the two runs a river so polluted, it has cholera warning signs along its banks. The global citizens' water movement must stand with the people of South Africa and around the world. We must be ready to counteract this move to have Rio+10 give its approval to a process of commodification of the world's freshwater supplies. The Treaty Initiative to Share and Protect the Global Water Commons is designed to be the primary focus of a fightback on this front. It states in clear terms that water is a public good and a human right and must not be appropriated for profit. It asks that, in signing, government organizations and Indigenous Peoples agree to administer the world's water as a trust. World Water Forum Another target for the Treaty Initiative is the Third World Water Forum to be held in Kyoto, Japan, in March of 2003 and the prep-con to take place in the same city a year earlier. At the Second World Water Forum held in The Hague in March, 2000, over 5,000 participants were told by World Bank and United Nations officials that the privatization argument was over. Only the hard work of the NGO community there and the Blue Planet Project members - including grassroots environmentalists and human rights activists working with public sector unions and Public Services International - prevented the entire Summit from adopting a private future for water. We can be sure the same water and energy corporations who were so visible in The Hague will be present in stronger numbers in Kyoto. For the global citizens' movement to be ready to challenge such a powerful body with a totally different mandate is a formidable prospect indeed. Yet, it is absolutely necessary to do so. In fact, the Fourth World Water Forum is scheduled for Montreal, Canada, in March, 2006, giving the movement a five-year target to turn the dominant global water agenda around. Planning must start immediately on how to bring large numbers of like-minded groups to these meetings, how to get the movement's issues and perspectives on the agenda, and how to enlist the support of the vast majority of the delegates to these meetings who share the view that water is part of the global commons and would join in a citizens' campaign if given the opportunity. It must be a key goal that, by the Fourth World Water Forum, the tide of opinion will have changed and governments and the United Nations will be working with citizens' organizations to announce the adoption of the Water Commons Treaty and the creation of a Global Water Convention. Conclusion The world has recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This Declaration marked a turning point in the long international quest to assert the supremacy of human and citizen rights over political or economic tyranny of any kind. Together with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Declaration stands as a 21st century Magna Carta. Besides granting full human rights to every person on earth regardless of race, religion, sex, and many other criteria, the Declaration includes the rights of citizenship, those services and social protections that every citizen has a right to demand of his or her government. Yet more than a half-century later, the lack of access to clean water means that well over one billion people are being denied a right guaranteed them in the United Nations Declaration. Over those 50 years, the rights of private capital have grown exponentially, while the rights of the world's poor have fallen off the political map. It is no coincidence that the deterioration and depletion of the world's water systems has taken place concurrent with the rise in the power of transnational corporations and a global financial system in which communities, indigenous peoples and farmers have been disenfranchised. An ecologically-sound, water-sustainable future will not happen if the world's water is privatised and put on the open market for sale to the highest bidder. If citizens lose control of this precious commons, we will lose the ability to set the conditions under which freshwater can be preserved and equitably shared. Eleanor Roosevelt said, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." Those groups who are part of the Blue Planet Project and other organizations fighting for a water-secure future believe in the beauty of this dream: that our global water crisis will become the source of global peace; that finally humanity will bow before nature and learn to live at peace with our limits and one another; that through our work together, the peoples of the world will declare that the sacred waters of life are the common property of the earth and all species and commit to their preservation for all generations to come. We believe that the Treaty Initiative to Share and Protect the Global Water Commons is a key step in realising our dream. The Blue Planet Project is an initiative of the Council of Canadians to support an international network opposed to the privatization and commodification of the world's fresh water. Its' first project was bringing like-minded groups together for the Second World Water Forum where non-governmental organisations, civil society groups, and trade unions were pivotal in raising international awareness to the privatization agenda of the World Bank and the world's water corporations. In July 2001, The Blue Planet Project organised "Water for People and Nature: A Forum on Conservation and Human Rights". Held in Vancouver, Canada from July 5-8, over 1000 activists and experts from more than 40 countries met to propose a new future for water, one based on respect for the earth and human rights. For more information on The Blue Planet Project or to get =============================================================
THE TREATY INITIATIVE TO SHARE AND PROTECT THE GLOBAL
WATER COMMONS
precedes its utility and commercial value, and therefore must be
respected and safeguarded by all political, commercial and social
institutions,
therefore, must not be treated as a private commodity to be bought,
sold and traded for profit,
and a fundamental human right and, therefore, a collective
responsibility, and,
polluted, diverted and depleted so fast that millions of people and
species are now deprived of water for life and,
precious fresh water legacies,
all levels and further declare that fresh water will not be allowed to
be privatized, commodified, traded or exported for commercial purpose
and must immediately be exempted from all existing and future
international and bilateral trade and investment agreements.
Indigenous Peoples - further agree to administer the Earth's fresh
water supply as a trust. The signatories acknowledge the sovereign
right and responsibility of every nation and homeland to oversee the
fresh water resources within their borders and determine how they are
managed and shared. Governments all over the world must take immediate
action to declare that the waters in their territories are a public
good and enact strong regulatory structures to protect them. However,
because the world's fresh water supply is a global commons, it cannot
be sold by any institution, government, individual or corporation for
profit.
Blue Planet Project web site at
http://www.canadians.org.or email
blueplanet@canadians.org
We are proposing that the Treaty, which has already been translated into French, Spanish and Portuguese and can be found on the Council of Canadian's Blue Planet website, be launched internationally on World Water Day, March 22, 2002. We propose that as many communities as possible hold activities on World Water Day and launch the treaty initiative as their central platform. We encourage everyone to let us know ahead of time of your plans, so that we can co-ordinate activities and share the information with others. The bigger we can make this launch, obviously, the more clout we will have with governments and international institutions.
involved in international World Water Day activities visit
www.canadians.org/blueplanet or email blueplanet@canadians.org
Terrie Templeton WTO Watch Qld gumbus@powerup.com.au