PublicationsUser loginAssembly of the Oppressed, 5th December 2011, Durban, South Africa
Articles pictures and videos from Durban on www.viacampesina.org
As the Assembly of the Oppressed we are gathered here to demand the transformation of the entire neo liberal capitalist system. The fight against climate change is a fight against neo liberal capitalism, landlessness, dispossession, hunger, poverty and the re-colonization of the territories of the people’s of Africa and the global South. We are here to declare that direct action is the only weapon of the oppressed people of the world to end all forms of oppression in the world.
Talk of trading access to water on an open market stirs controversy, but it’s already a reality in Alberta
by Nicholas Kohler on Thursday, July 7, 2011 12:20pm - MacLeans.ca
Last month, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the chairman of Nestlé SA, the world’s largest food company, made a splash in Alberta for announcing, via an interview with Reuters in Geneva, that Nestlé was in talks with the Alberta government to establish a so-called water exchange—a market in which water, life’s sine qua non, could be bought and sold just like wheat, pork bellies or any other commodity. “We are actively dealing with the government of Alberta to think about a water exchange,” said Brabeck-Letmathe, describing the province as ideal for such a scheme because water there is scarce and competition for the resource between farmers and oil sands operators is fierce.
We've known for a long time that bottled water costs far more than safe, reliable, municipal tap water systems, with those costs falling on individuals, communities, and the environment. But there is new and growing evidence that the failure to provide safe drinking water, or the fear (or reality) of contamination in tap water that forces people to buy bottled water, imposes special financial burdens on poor and minority communities. Three new lines of evidence support these conclusions:
Earlier this week the California based Oakland Institute released a series of in-depth reports that uncover how large scale investments in land in Africa are resulting in food insecurity, the displacement of small farmers, conflict, environmental devastation, water loss, and the further impoverishment and political instability of African nations.
Polaris Institute Executive Director Tony Clarke, who is a member of the Oakland Institute's board of directors, prepared a statement for the launch of the special investigation that uncovers the massive water takings that accompany these troublesome land grabs in Africa.
Visit the Oakland Institute's website to find out more about land grabs in Africa: www.oaklandinstitute.org
Statement by Tony Clarke:
Water Grabs Accompany Huge Land Grabs
For Immediate Release
June 8th 2011 - Yesterday, the government of Manitoba announced that its offices and departments would not be allowed to spend money on single-use bottled water where tap water is readily accessible. Over the last five years, the government had spent an estimated 700,000$ on purchasing bottled water. With this newest initiative in the nation-wide push-back against the bottled water industry, Manitoba becomes the 2nd province to implement a similar policy, following in the footsteps of Nova Scotia.
In the face of intense lobbying from the bottled water industry, Toronto City Council voted down a motion on Wednesday night that would have overturned the city's 2008 bottled water ban. Wednesday's events show that Canadian municipalities are not giving in to industry pressure led by Nestlé to rescind good public policy. Toronto is the biggest city in the world to have banned bottled water and now joins the City of London (Ont) in rejecting industry pleas to reverse bottled water bans.
Bid to lift ban on bottled water goes down drain
Don Peat, Toronto Sun, April 13, 2011 - A bid to ban Toronto’s ban on bottled water was washed away Wednesday.
April 8, 2011 - The Polaris Institute congratulates the Concordia University administration for taking this important step towards a more sustainable and just campus. A special applause goes to the students who organized the successful TAPthirst campaign that was instrumental in this incredible outcome.
By phasing out the sale of bottled water from vending machines on the Loyola and Sir George Williams campuses and by committing to upgrade drinking fountains to accommodate reusable drink containers, Concordia University is making a serious commitment to responsible environmental practices.
The Council of Canadians and the Polaris Institute are shocked that, according to media reports, a Guelph University student was denied entrance to a Stephen Harper campaign event because she opposed the sale of bottled water on her university campus.
While this is another egregious example of the Conservative party’s draconian efforts to exclude Canadians from its political rallies, in this case Conservative party officials appear to have blocked a university student for simply trying to create a more sustainable campus by promoting public tap water.
“How could the Conservatives think this is acceptable?” asked Brent Patterson, Director of Campaigns at the Council of Canadians.
The Council of Canadians released a new report on World Water Day outlining a critical plan to protect the great lakes.
See the report here
About the report from the Council of Canadians' website:
Our Great Lakes Commons: A People’s Plan to Protect the Great Lakes Forever is an in-depth report about the critical importance of forging a new future for the Great Lakes watershed, which provides life and livelihood to more than 40 million people in Canada and the United States, as well as thousands of species that live around it.
Written by Maude Barlow, the paper is intended to serve as a background and a call to understanding and action on a new proposal to designate the Great Lakes and its tributary waters as a lived Commons, to be shared, protected, carefully managed and enjoyed by all who live around them.
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwire - March 22, 2011) - CUPE Nova Scotia President Danny Cavanagh is joining a chorus of water activists who say Nestlé Waters Canada, a private water company, is exploiting World Water Day for profit.
CUPE says the company issued a press release alerting the media that company executive John Challinor II will be accepting calls from the press on World Water Day (today) to talk about the company's "policies on water management and conservation."
The Inside the Bottle coalition – which CUPE is a part of – is encouraging its supporters to call John Challinor II today and let him know that water is not something that can be bought and sold for profit.
Cavanagh says, "As the largest bottled water company in the world, it is hypocritical in the extreme for Nestle to be trying to gain media exposure on World Water Day."
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To call Nestlé executive John Challinor: 1 888 565-1445, Ext. 6441
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