Water may be the next serious world problem

Next to the air we breathe, water is undoubtedly the most important thing for our survival. Water is vital to all forms of life. Without water, the earth would be as lifeless as the moon. The human body itself is two-thirds water.

We are all aware that we have an environmental pollution problem. Metro Manila, for instance, is one of the most polluted cities in the world. Now, we must be made aware of the fact that we may have a global fresh water shortage. Throughout history, water has been the mainstay of civilizations. If the water supply ceased, the civilizations collapsed or just totally vanished. When due to climatic change, the Tigris and Euphrates dried up, the land turned to desert and what were once great valley civilizations ceased to exist. The same thing happened in the northern African shore. The civilized spots there fell with the drastic decrease in rainfall.

Last December 4, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Cultures and Social Rights took an unprecedented move in agreeing on a general comment on water as a human right. "Water," it declared, "is fundamental for life and health. The human right to water is indispensable for leading a healthy life in human dignity. It is a pre-requisite to the realization of all other human rights." This means that the 145 countries that have ratified the covenant "have a constant and continuing duty" to make sure that everyone has access to safe and secure potable water. Dr. Gro Harley Bruntland, Director-General of the World Health Organization, went even further and said, "countries will be required to respect, protect and fulfill individual rights to safe drinking water."

The fact remains, however, that 1.1 billion of the world’s people (in short, one in six of the earth’s population) do not have access to safe drinking water. There was a time when water from the faucet was safe to drink. Now, we have to pay for potable water. So the fact is that we have no rights to potable water – unless we pay.

The United Nations has declared 2003 as International Year of Fresh Water. But last Nov. 15, the UNESCO and Green Cross International held a conference on how to prevent possible wars concerning the world’s water supply. According to the Malthusian Doctrine expounded by Rev. T.R. Malthus in his Essay on Population, the number of people on earth tends to outrun the means of subsistence. Today, officials from respected institutions like the World Bank are predicting that the wars of the 21st century will be over water. The same prediction has been stated by a former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali. The truth is that the world is not running out of water. It just so happens that quite often, it is in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Human rights will not produce water. You have to make it accessible. To get air, all one has to do is breathe. Water, you have to pay for. You cannot have it at other people’s expense.