Brussels, 16/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - While only 60% of the world's population has access to water, this ever scarcer resource is essential for the whole of humanity and must therefore be accessible to all without being a source of profit, states the European Parliament in a resolution adopted on Thursday 16 March, as the 6th World Water Forum (WWF) organised by the World Water Council was being held in Marseilles (12-17 March). Following their rapporteur, Richard Seeber (EPP, Ireland), who also heads the parliamentary intergroup on water-related issues, MEPs expressed the essential message that the Parliament delivered in Marseilles the very same day.
The previous day, at the initiative of the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), participants at the World Water Forum had signed an international charter for promoting universal access to water and sanitation through solidarity at local level (the Global Water Solidarity Platform), supported by the French and Swiss governments.
“Water is at the source of life and economic development worldwide. Water is becoming ever more precious and scarce. We need to handle it with more care. We have to find ways on both European and international levels on how to deal with our water resources sustainably. Climate change and population growth amplify the problems. This is why the EU must develop a strategic and long-term water policy in close cooperation with the international community”, Seeber said. The resolution calls for the same thing. Parliament also calls on the Commission and on all 27 member states to step up their commitment for the complete attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in water and sanitation. Parliament invites all countries of the world to fix a quantitative target for 2015 for the reduction of chemical or biological pollution by urban waters or surface activities in order to protect or restore the quality of water and strengthen the sustainability of water resources and ecosystems.
The French Greens in Parliament consider that the World Water Forum is first and foremost a trade fair, and that, even if the European Parliament's resolution shows proof of its good intentions, it is to be feared that water will remain at the origin of many problems arising in the future. Michèle Rivasi of France, who is vice-president of the Greens/EFA, said this major source of wealth (i.e. water) must not fall into the hands of the private sector. “Access to drinking water has become a fundamental right since 2010 but one must go further still. It is necessary to put that right in the Constitution, and promote global water management as a common good to be shared globally. We must, therefore, not allow private companies to get their hands on the water market”. She also called for the World Water Forum to be part of the UN process. (AN/transl.jl)