Multinational corporations have begun their predatory raids on the world’s water J E N S L O E W E resources. Here in Europe, too, water supply systems have already been impacted by this global privatisation wave and an integral part of the basis of our human existence has been J E N S L O E W E VERLAG NWWP reduced to a mere plaything at the mercy of economic interests. Jens Loewe describes for us the techniques and tricks used by these large companies to get their hands on public assets – aided and abetted by political accomplices – and WATER ABLAZE shows how democracy, self-determination and citizens’ rights are falling by the wayside in the process. He also illustrates the way in THE CONTAMINATION AND COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION which our water is being contaminated to an OF A RARE AND VITAL RESOURCE ever-increasing extent by industry, large-scale construction projects and chemicals, and the Translated by Philomena Beital far-reaching repercussions this environmental ABLAZE damage is having for all life on our planet. WATER ABLAZE provides information about the various options available to members of the public and the strategies that can be applied to oppose current developments, as well as possible ways out of the present crisis. WATER Concerned and active citizens will find the book helpful in their struggle against the all-pervading power of the giant corporations and institutions. Jens Loewe is an activist and the author of numerous publications on this subject. He lives and works in Stuttgart and supports various projects both in Germany and abroad. ISBN 978-3-9808485-9-6 J E N S L O E W E VERLAG NWWP Umschlag Water Ablaze ok.indd 1 29.04.10 13:46 JENS LOEWE WATER ABLAZE THE CONTAMINATION AND COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION OF A RARE AND VITAL RESOURCE Translated by Philomena Beital Verlag NWWP WATER ABLAZE © 2010 Jens Loewe With contributions by Marcela Olivera, Ercan Ayboga, David Hachfeld, Gerlinde Schermer, Sabine Finkenthei and Barbara Kern. Translated by Philomena Beital, Stuttgart. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without prior permission from the author. [email protected] Cover picture by Claudia Bormnann, Ratzeburg. www.claudiabormann.de Design and typeset by Christoph Valentien, Stuttgart. [email protected] Published by Verlag NWWP, Stuttgart. [email protected] First edition 2010 ISBN: 978-3-9808485-9-6 For everyone on our planet – since none of us can survive without water CONTENTS 1 FOREWORD__13 2 THE FINANCIAL CRISIS__17 3 THE STRUGGLE FOR WATER__21 3.1 Water in Abundance?__22 3.2 The Search for New Sources – Some Crazy Notions__24 3.3 Water Waster Number One – Agribusiness__25 3.4 The Water Business – One Source of Revenue That Will Never Run Dry__27 3.5 The Climate Change – Pretext for Military Operations?__31 4 EXPERIENCES FROM OTHER COUNTRIES__33 4.1 Turkey – The 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, 2009__33 4.2 The Philippines – Manila and the Fight for Water__38 4.3 The U.S. Giant Bechtel in Cochabamba and Iraq__39 4.4 Brazil – The Transposition of the Rio São Francisco__40 4.5 Turkey – Opposition to the Ilisu Dam Project__52 4.6 India – The Narmada Dam Project and Coca Cola__59 4.7 Colombia – The Conflict with Coca Cola__60 4.8 Indonesia – Water Suppliers Danone and RWE__62 4.9 Chile – Privatised Rivers and Giant Dams in Patagonia__65 4.10 Nestlé – Bottled Water Worldwide__69 5 WARS FOR WATER IN BOLIVIA__71 5.1 Who Does Water Belong to? Having the Courage to Stand up against the Powerful Companies__72 5.2 Humanitarian Aid or Dictating to Others in Neocolonial Style? A Dark Chapter in German Foreign Aid Policy__78 5.3 From the Struggle for Water to the Reclaiming of Civil Rights__83 7 5.4 The New Bolivian Constitution Recognises Water as a Human Right, but Will This Actually Become Reality in Everyday Life? (Marcela Olivera)__87 6 A CITY’S MAD PRIVATISATION SPREE – HOW STUTTGART SOLD OFF ITS GAS, ELECTRICITY AND WATER SUPPLIES__91 6.1 Public Opinion Is Not Asked for__92 6.2 The Strategy of Insidious Privatisation__95 6.3 Growing Opposition__100 6.4 Signs of the Decline of Political Culture__103 6.5 Taking Legal Action Is Pointless__106 6.6 The Risks Involved in a Complete Sell-out__108 6.7 The Remunicipalisation of Stuttgart’s Water Supply (Status Quo: September 2009)__113 7 CROSS BORDER LEASING – FICTITIOUS DEALS INVOLVING INCALCULABLE RISKS__115 7.1 How to Avoid Paying Taxes and Make Fantastic Profits at the Same Time__116 7.2 Dishonest Dealings at the Taxpayer’s Expense__118 7.3 When the Tax-Evading Tail Wags the Public Dog__120 7.4 Contract-Related Pitfalls – The Public Is Left Empty-Handed__122 7.5 Short-Sighted Policies – Long-Lasting Risks__124 7.6 CBL Deals Have Been Declared Illegal in the USA – What Now?__125 8 HOW POLITICS, THE BUSINESS WORLD AND CIVIL SOCIETY HAVE BECOME ENTANGLED IN ONE ANOTHER__133 8.1 Greenwash__133 8.2 Turncoats and Shady Characters__134 8.3 The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)__136 8.4 Global Compact__139 8.5 Local Agenda 21__140 8.6 White Corruption and the Power of the Lobbyists__140 8.7 Multistakeholder Review (MSR)__143 8 9 THE NEOLIBERAL CONSPIRACY –THE ROLE PLAYED BY INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS AND INSTITUTIONS__147 9.1 The Pressure to Privatise – Post-War International Agreements__148 9.2 The International Monetary Fund (IMF)__150 9.3 The World Bank__151 9.4 The GATT Agreement__153 9.5 The World Trade Organisation (WTO)__153 9.6 The Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI)__155 9.7 The GATS Agreement__156 9.8 The TRIPS Agreement__159 9.9 What Are the Consequences?__162 9.10 The European Union (EU)__163 10 THE DIMENSIONS OF WATER PRIVATISATION IN GERMANY__173 10.1 Taking Stock of Privatisation – An Alarming Balance__173 10.2 Government Strategies for the Reallocation and Consolidation of Water Management__175 10.3 Public-Private Partnerships (PPP)__175 10.4 The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWI)__178 10.5 Praise from the World Bank__180 10.6 The Privatisation of the Berliner Wasserbetriebe – with Profits Guaranteed (Gerlinde Schermer and Sabine Finkenthei)__181 10.7 The Remunicipalisation of Potsdam’s Water Supply (David Hachfeld)__184 10.8 Further Cases of Successful Remunicipalisation in Germany__187 10.9 The Selling-off of Lakes in Eastern Germany__189 10.10 Compulsory Connection to the Sewerage Network__193 10.11 The Anti-Privatisation Network in Germany__196 11 ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS AND WATER POLLUTION__197 11.1 Agricultural Water Consumption__197 11.2 Agricultural Over-Fertilisation__199 11.3 Genetically-Engineered Seeds – A Threat to Our Water?__203 11.4 Railway Lines__204 9 11.5 A Century of Industry – A Century of Water Pollution__206 11.6 Radioactive Waste – The Asse II Salt Mine__207 11.7 Nuclear Weapons – Radioactive Contamination in “Times of Peace”__210 11.8 Depleted Uranium Munitions – Contamination via Radiotoxic Respirable Dust__211 11.9 Bunker-Buster “Mini-Nukes” – Particulate Matter Is Released on Impact__213 11.10 Megaprojects and the Aftermath of Accidents__215 12 WATER MANAGEMENT IN URBAN AREAS__219 12.1 Problems and the Search for Possible Solutions__220 12.2 Contradicting the Most Common Arguments of Those in Favour of Privatisation__223 12.3 Some Other Objections to Water Privatisation at Communal Level__226 13 WHAT ACTION CAN WE TAKE – AS LOCAL AUTHORITIES, INITIATIVES AND INDIVIDUALS?__229 13.1 Spreading Information__229 13.2 Withdrawal from Existing Contracts and the Remunicipalisation of Services__229 13.3 Cross Border Leasing (CBL)__231 13.4 Legal Options__231 13.5 The Participatory Budget – A Prime Example of Direct Democracy__233 13.6 Foreign Aid Programmes – Who Are the Real Beneficiaries?__234 13.7 Which Legal Form Would Be Best-Suited to Water Supplies?__235 13.8 Changing Suppliers and Boycotting Certain Products__236 13.9 Alternative Methods of Supplying and Distributing Water__238 13.10 Who Has the Power of Control over Water Supplies?__239 10 14 USEFUL WEBLINKS WITH COMMENTS__241 14.1 Critical NGOs and Networks__241 14.2 Critical and Alternative News Coverage__254 14.3 Alternative Concepts and Possible Solutions__257 14.4 Democracy, Plebiscite and Referenda__259 14.5 Useful Websites in German__261 15 GREEDY CORPORATIONS AND NEOLIBERAL INSTITUTIONS__265 15.1 Some of the Titans Actively Engaged on the Water Battlefield__265 15.2 Water-Bottling Giants__278 15.3 Neoliberal Institutions with a Privatisation Agenda__280 16 SOURCES__291 16.1 Films Relating to Water and Globalisation__291 16.2 Literary References__298 17 FREQUENTLY-USED ABBREVIATIONS (with explanatory comments)__311 17.1 UN Organisations, Programmes, Funds, Agencies and Offices__335 18 NOTES__341 19 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS__349 20 ABOUT THE AUTHOR__351 11 F O R E W O R D 1 We are all familiar with the story of David and Goliath. In today’s world, as globalisation with its horrific consequences rears its ugly head everywhere we turn, it is all too easy to identify the giant. “But where is David?” we may ask ourselves. “Who will be able to slay Goliath?” If we look and listen closely, we will notice that countless positive developments and tiny miracles are taking place all over the globe. One of these miracles led to the appearance of the English translation of this book. When an environmentally-aware friend here in Stuttgart, Philomena Beital, read the German edition, she decided to translate the book into English free of charge. A native speaker herself, she hoped to contribute to the spreading of information about these issues, which only goes to prove that we are not doomed to inactivity as the popular and exonerating excuse – “There’s nothing we can do about it anyway!” – would have us believe. Through the accumulation of this and other small wonders, David is summoned to the scene and will effectively be able to confront Goliath.