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March 23, 2009
Activists Agree Water is the New Oil
Water activists agree that water has now become more of a precious commodity than oil, with more than a billion people in the world lacking access to clean water, and with 80% of all diseases derived from dirty water.
This is the focus of this year's International World Water Day, which closes this Sunday, in Istanbul, Turkey.
"As climate change accelerates and we see a changing hydrological cycle, diminishing access to resources, there are direct human impacts that are water-related," said Jonathan Greenblatt, a professor at UCLA.
"It is the well-managed or restored river systems that cope best with climate change impacts we are seeing now and those that are yet to come," James Leape, the director general of the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a statement.
"This is clearly an issue of water management, but the ministerial declaration flowing from the World Water Forum is more a collection of platitudes than a plan for action."
The World Health Organization reported that there is a high return on investment in clean water projects,: every $1 spent on water and sanitation can bring economic benefits averaging between $7 and $12.
"As many have pointed out in this week's debates, this payback makes a very strong argument in favor of promoting safe water and sanitation in these difficult financial times," Melanie Nakagawa wrote in the Natural Resources Defense Council's blog, as reported by Reuters, and published by News 24.
Posted by Stephen Betheil at March 23, 2009 03:27 PM
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