Water Portal

Welcome to the Water Portal on Spinprofiles

Welcome to the Water Portal on Spinprofiles—your guide to networks of power, lobbying and deceptive PR within the water industry. This water portal will track and profile global and regional governing institutions, lobby associations, policy planning organisations, think tanks and agents all involved in the water industry. It will include those of a pro-privatisatisation persuasion but also those who are promoting an alternative vision orientated towards publicly owned and participatory systems. Spinprofiles has a policy of strict referencing and is overseen by an Managing editor and a Sysop and several Associate Portal editors. The Editors of the Water Portal are Tommy Kane and Kyle Mitchell. Priority pages on Water International Water Association World Commission on Water for the 21st Century (WCW) Water UK Water Integrity Network International Chamber of Commerce European Services Forum Margaret Catley-Carlson DFID European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Scottish CBI Regulatory Policy Institute GATS Coca-Cola (This is a list of pages that need work - See more...)

Context of the Water Debate Often taken for granted, water is vital to life. It is the essential component in all aspects and activities related to our well-being and existence, including food and energy production and manufacturing in general. It’s clear that if our water supply continues to dwindle, and/or, water became unaffordable, then our lives would be detrimentally transformed. Millions are already experiencing and suffering from the mismanagement and unequal allocation of water. Between 1.1 and 1.5 billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. 1.8 million Children die each year from diarrhoea – a water related disorder. In total, 2.2 million people die each year due to low quality drinking water and/or lack of sanitation – that is 42, 000 people a week, 90 percent of whom are children (WHO/UNICEF, 2005: 15). These horrific consequences, of exclusion to socially necessary goods and services, are catastrophic, yet entirely preventable. Access to and control of water, have been contentious issues for centuries. Most recently this struggle has taken the form of a conflict over the increasing commercialisation, privatisation and liberalisation of fresh water goods and services. This shift in regulation, which has been introduced throughout much of the world, can be characterised not only by its nature – an increase in private sector participation in the water sector and thus a reliance on the free market as the model upon which society structures the governance, production and distribution of socially necessary goods and services – but also the geo-political climate within which this shift takes place, namely, the era of economic globalisation. Indeed, this shift has been facilitated by processes of economic globalisation – processes that are defined by the dominant neo-liberal policies of deregulation, privatisation and liberalisation. Economic globalisation has done more than just facilitate the shift from public to private sector however. When it comes to governing resources which hitherto were considered public goods or part of the global commons, neoliberal policies have changed the nature and structure of governance. The shift in regulatory power has meant a reduction (and in some cases an outright eclipse) in the planning capacity of local, regional and national authorities. Issues Text needed here Recent Articles on SpinWatch Rss Water

Categories There are a list of categories associated with this page: Water Water: International Policy Initiatives Water: People Water: Advocates for Privatisation of Scottish water Water: European Actors Water: Governing Institutions Water: Media Water: NGO's Water: Regulators Water: Think Tanks Water: Transnational Lobby Networks Water: UK Actors Water: Industry Recent changes to pages on Water Recent Changes to pages on Water Recent changes to pages on People involved with the Water industry Recent Changes to pages on Water Recent changes to pages on People involved with the Water industry Recent Changes to pages on Water Recent changes to pages on People involved with the Water industry Recent Changes to pages on Water Recent changes to pages on People involved with the Water industry <DynamicArticleList> title=Newest Pages type=new count=10 </DynamicArticleList> <DynamicArticleList> title=Recently Updated Articles type=update count=10 </DynamicArticleList> References and Resources Text needed here

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