Water Justice News
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NEWS: Discussions begin on Rio+20 outcome document
The United Nations News Centre reports, “Delegates from United Nations Member States gathered in New York (on Thursday) to begin discussions on inputs, the structure and format of the outcome document to be finalized by world leaders at next year’s UN conference on sustainable development in Rio de Janeiro.” Member States are meeting now to…
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UDPATE: Barlow & Olson present to the International Joint Commission
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow and Michigan-based Flow for Water chair Jim Olson presented to the International Joint Commission in Washington, DC on Tuesday December 13. In her presentation, Barlow stated, “With so many wonderful people, elected officials and environmental groups working hard to save and protect the Great Lakes, what is the problem?…
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VIDEO: Climate Change and Water
Umphilo waManzi (isiZulu for Water is Life), a non-profit organization based in South Africa, was formed with the objective of helping to improve the livelihoods of and services to poor communities through research, advocacy, liaison, and accessible communication. Over the past two years it has been implementing the Durban component of […]
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UPDATE: Pepsico’s water claims in India are erroneous
The India Resource Centre reports, “Pepsico is claiming that it has achieved ‘positive water balance’ in India. Pepsico prominently states on its bottled water in India that Pepsico is ‘giving back more water than we take’. Pepsico’s claims are erroneous, misleading and deceptive. The company does not give back more water than it takes.” The…
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UPDATE: Alternatives needed to the Mullaperiyar dam
The Mullaperiyar dam is a 53-metre tall masonry gravity dam located in southern India. It was completed in 1895 on the Periyar River to divert water eastwards to the present-day state of Tamil Nadu. Although the dam is controlled and operated by Tamil Nadu, the dam is owned by and located in the state of…
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HidroAysén transmission line route announced
The Santiago Times reports, “On Monday, executives from Endesa and Colbún, the energy companies behind the controversial HidroAysén hydroelectric project slated for Patagonia, presented their proposed route for power lines to transfer electricity from five dams in southern Chile north to the central Metropolitan Region.” “The proposed route would run more than 1900 kilometres and…
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Calgary-based company loses bid for open pit gold mine in Costa Rica
Calgary-based Infinito Gold Inc. wants to operate an open-pit gold mine in Costa Rica’s Northern Zone near the Nicaragua border. As reported by Tico Times, “In 2006, then-president Óscar Arias signed a decree saying the mine was in Costa Rica’s public interest and gave the go-ahead to the project, which was already facing stiff opposition…
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The Nexus and why we should be worried about the Green Economy
Since coming back from the Bonn Conference on the water, food and energy nexus where I met up with fellow civil society activists, I have been trying to figure out how we can stand against the corporate machine building up towards RIO+20. The Bonn conference organised by the German government aims to influence RIO+20 outcomes…
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Bolivia scraps controversial highway plan
Al Jazeera English reports, “Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, has announced that he is scrapping plans to build a highway through a nature reserve in Bolivia’s jungle lowlands, bowing to public pressure after a two-month protest march by Amazon Indians.” “Bolivia’s leftist president said he would veto a law passed last week that green-lighted…
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Right to Water in Mexican Constitution
I am so excited to announce that the Mexican Senate has voted to add the right to water to the Constitution just moments ago! This initiative also adds the right to a healthy environment! The initiative now needs to be voted in the majority of the state legislations, which might still take a few months,…