Water

Sponsored by Bolivia, too. Score one point for humanity.

The UN General Assembly has declared access to clean water and sanitation a "human right" in a resolution that more than 40 countries including the United States did not support.

The resolution adopted by the 192-member world body expresses deep concern that an estimated 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water and more than 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation.

UN anti-poverty goals call for the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation to be cut in half by 2015.

The non-binding resolution, sponsored by Bolivia, was approved by a vote of 122-0 with 41 abstentions including the United States and many Western nations though Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain and Norway supported it.

Bolivia's representative said many rights have been recognised including the rights to health, life, and education. He said the Bolivian government introduced a resolution on the right to adequate water and sanitation because contaminated water causes more than 3.5 million deaths every year - more than any war continues here

Some 40 countries (with plenty of big and rich names like the UK, Australia, the USA, Canada etc) abstained. There was some fudging-type diplo remarks from their reps on this, but AFP nailed a far better quote from someone who knows the UN and the water issue (the added red bold type will help if you can't be bothered to read the whole thing):

"This is a historic day for the world, a big step in the right direction" toward the distant goal of a water treaty, Canada's leading water activist Maude Barlow told AFP.

"It is going to mean a huge amount to our movement around the world, to local community groups fighting for water rights, water justice against governments, corporations which are not respecting their rights."

Barlow, a former senior adviser to the UN General Assembly on the water issue, said some wealthy countries abstained out of fear "that they are going to be asked to pay the price tag" or that the resolution would give "tools to their own people to use against them."

She welcomed the fact that major countries such as China, Russia, Germany, France, Spain and Brazil backed the resolution.

Of her country's abstention, she said: "We are terribly disappointed."

She said Canada's conservative government wants the right to sell water.

"They know that if they say it is a human right it will be a contradiction to want to turn it into a commodity," she added. continues here

So there you go. Surprised? Nah, didn't think so....

For Sale: Argentine river water

Here's a business going on as we speak that leaves me thinking it lies somewhere between piracy, capitalism, smart opportunism and sheer barefaced cheek.

With the much publicized drop in the Baltic Dry Index (BDI), tanker space has suddenly become much cheaper. As Argentine newspaper Critica reports today, one company has come up with an idea to take advantage.

Makhena S.A., a company with offices in Miami and Buenos Aires, offers to transport crude, unprocessed river water from the Paraná River (that which flows into the Rio de la Plata) and transport it across the Atlantic to customers in Africa or the Middle East. Here's the company web page that offers:

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River Fresh water commercialization.

Characteristics: Fresh, crude water, without treatment.

Origin: Rivers. Argentina
Amounts: between 60,000 and 70,000 ton
Uses: Purification and consumption, irrigation, etc.
Transport: Tanker

The water is an irreplaceable element for the support of the human life and the rest of the alive beings, being a essential into innumerable productive processes. In spite of being renewable, the shortage of the water gradually shows as they increase to the demands and the conflicts by its use.

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Or in other words, they send a ship up the river, open its sluices, fill up with H2O, carry it across the Atlantic and pocket the profits. According to the Critica report, the going rate is U$2m for 70,000 metric tonnes of water. The Argentine government gets 10% as its royalty, then the shipping company gets $1m for its services. So if Makhena can walk away with $800k for a shipload of river water that's a deal likely to be copied, methinks. By the way, my Casio also says that at these rates the water sells for just under U$0.03 per litre.

A lot of ink has already been spilled about possible water wars in the 21st century. Maybe this type of business is the first manifestation of a trend.

Good News: Lima's potential environmental disaster is getting airtime

This report from Reuters hit the wires last night and I'm happy to report the potential disaster due to government inertia is getting more airtime. The report included this from Environment Minister Antonio Brack-Egg:

" Brack said the mines and energy ministry is preparing another emergency measure to finance the clean-up of a potential slide in the area."

This is good for Peru, good for the Lima water supply and good for Gold Hawk Resources, too. I can also report that CGK.v has contracted a highly respected local forestry firm, "Foresta S.A.", to get expert advice on what else they can do to move the process along as quickly as possible.

I know it's very easy to lay the blame at the door of the mining company in cases such as these, but it has to be said that Gold Hawk has done everything in its power to alleviate a problem they inherited more than created. A good example from "a tiny metals company" (to quote Reuters) that would be great to see followed by miners many times their size. Kudos to CGK.v.

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