SWEDEN: World Water Week warns of global warming, biofuel issues (21/08/07)
Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told the opening session of World Water Week in Stockholm that the US, China and India must commit to take action against global warming to ensure more people will have clean water.
Urging the completion of a successor to the Kyoto Protocol by the end of 2009, he said that controlling climate change is necessary to make the most of a scarce resource.
The theme of this year’s week was ‘progress and prospects on water: striving for sustainability in a changing world’. A number of studies, reports and initiatives were launched related to this topic.
The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) called for governments around the world to manage their use of existing water resources better, taking the ‘necessary and sometimes painful’ measures needed to reduce losses from infrastructure and irrigation, cut agricultural subsidies and put in place realistic water-pricing measures before attempting to increase supplies.
The message was in SIWI’s new policy brief, 'On the verge of a new water scarcity', which was released as Stockholm water week began. SIWI and the Swedish Water House released four policy briefs and reports highlighting research and recommendations on water, sustainability, health and development.
One, on water scarcity, says it is important to distinguish between ‘apparent’ scarcity, where there is plenty of water but it is wastefully used, and ‘real’ scarcity, caused by lack of rain. Another, on agriculture, water and ecosystems, notes that in future the water required for food and that needed to keep ecosystems healthy must be balanced carefully.
In another move, UN-HABITAT announced the Global Water Operators’ Partnership, which aims to strengthen the capacities of public water operators, and inaugurated the Water and Sanitation Trust Fund, as well as establishing an MoU with India under the Water for Asian Cities programme.
The ADB released a report on Asia’s urgent sanitation challenge and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development launched its Global Water Tool. This free tool helps companies and organisations to map their water use and assess risks relative to their global operations and supply chains.
In addition, WEF and the IWA introduced the revamped World Water Monitoring Day initiative.
Speakers during the week also warned of the danger of biofuels, which are becoming an increasingly-popular substitute for fossil fuels, saying that they use water supplies that would be better put to creating food.
There was also a warning that clearing land to produce biofuels could release CO2 and negate the environmental benefits. The fuels will lead to a doubling of the demand for water for agriculture, speakers claimed.
Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of the UN Settlements Programme, warned that rapid urbanisation is placing enormous pressure on the availability of clean water and other natural resources, especially for the poor.
She called for ‘a fundamental change’ in the way the world approaches water and sanitation to ensure that enough clean water remains affordable for all for future generations.
Adriana Alcántara Ruiz, Dalia Graciela Díaz Gómez and Carlos Hernández Mejía from Mexico were awarded the 2007 Stockholm Junior Water Prize for a project to eliminate lead from industrial wastewaters by adsorption using ground-up eggshells.
Lis Stedman
