via chycho
Commoditization of the commons is the most important issue of our time, the most vital aspect of which is the commodification of water, usable water (pdf) to be more precise. As Global Water Corporation, a Canadian water privatization company has stated (pdf):
“Water has moved from being an endless commodity that may be taken for granted to a rationed necessity that may be taken by force.”
Strong words indeed for an important issue. Gavin Power, the deputy director of the United Nations Global Compact, reiterated this message when he made the following statement after receiving support from some of the largest corporations in the world in an effort “to help [sic] solve the global water crisis”:
“The scale of the water problem is so big that governments can’t solve it alone. They need the help of the private sector.”
Privatization of water, however, has some serious adversaries. Veronica Lake, a Michigan-based environmental activist, in a 2004 article cautions that corporations are using the following three tactics to take control of the world’s water:
1. “Through ‘water mining’ of the aquifers and vast sources of water that feed streams, and rivers;
2. “Through long-term leases or concessions allowing corporations to take over the delivery of water systems and the collection of revenues;
3. “Through ‘managing’ municipal water systems.”
continued at chycho
