Towards the 6^th World Water Forum — Cooperative Actions for Water Security

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear friends,

Please allow me first to greet all the participants gathered here in Tashkent.

On behalf of the World Water Council and the great water family, let me also express my special thanks to the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan for inviting me and express my regrets for not being able to be with you today.

I have asked Prof. Dukhovny, Governor of the World Water Council, to read this message to you. And I would like to thank him personally for being my spokesman today.

I would also like to communicate to you the interest and attention that the Council is paying to this international conference, which is taking place in such an important hydrographical area.

Despite our efforts, the fate of water in the world continues to be difficult. The distortions between humid and dry regions, the divide between the rich and the poor have sometimes continued to worsen as a result of demography, economic development, urbanisation, pollution and also climate change.

Needless to say that we strive to supply more and more water for agriculture, for industry and for domestic use. And this is essential to quench the thirst of populations and avoid threatening economic production.

But two years ago, at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, we definitely entered a new era in the history of water. The Istanbul Forum will be remembered as one where it was agreed that the “time of easy water is over ”.

Little by little, the notion of scarcity of hydraulic resources has become a reality to all of us in the North, as well as in the South. We are now shifting towards a world of control and regulation policies to manage the demand for water: satisfying needs while controlling consumption; this is what today’s and tomorrow’s decision makers must address.

Our behaviours are gradually changing through improved consumption and by waste reduction. A more respectful conception of Nature is gradually imposed on us. Thanks to the efforts of several countries –including Central Asian countries, the road is being paved to manage water resources in a more responsible manner. We are ready to move from looting water to sharing water.

And our message must be loud and clear: this sharing must be fair. The right to water was not only asserted by the UN during the summer of 2010. It will gradually become a reality because nobody today can pretend to deprive anyone from the water he or she needs to drink or to wash, in short, to live. To this effect, the World Water Council is always at the forefront in fostering dialogue, notably in the case of sensitive transboundary situations or use conflicts between communities.

But the necessity for fair water sharing between Man and Territories must not hide another essential obligation. The sharing of water must also be fair between Man and Nature to guarantee and ensure a harmonious distribution of sufficient and healthy water, with a consideration for biodiversity. It becomes a duty to master the purification cycle and widespread sanitation and chemical pollution limitation policies.

But we need to refrain, as it is quite common nowadays, from locking ourselves up in the well known water-energy-food nexus. Obviously, we need water and energy to produce the food for an ever increasing and demanding population. But what is the use of watering and fertilising soils if at the same time, we contribute to poisoning them as we have done in so many regions of the world.

Parallel to this, we are convinced today that producing energy and making water more accessible is part of the same battle. When energy is missing and when the price of the oil barrel is skyrocketing, access to water suffers. This is why the World Water Council, throughout the climate negotiations, will continue to advocate that the water-energy package be taken into account.

We need this water-energy package just like the world needs a negotiation on climate on a brand new basis. This negotiation must strike a better balance between the necessity of fighting against poverty and the imperatives of ensuring a rigorous protection of biodiversity.

It is necessary to assert the right of each individual to access water and to guarantee enough energy to secure this access. It is also necessary to guarantee the huge quantity of water needed to feed the planet and to protect the quality of the discharged water. But this is not enough.

We also have to secure the political and economic means to support the priority given to water.

Greater and better adapted financial schemes are paramount. They first lie on better asserted political stances. They also imply a courageous call for an increase in investments to respond to the needs of populations.

Talking about innovative financing schemes must not, however, make us forget that the principle of truth regarding costs applies, even if some water and sanitation infrastructure should benefit from better suited international funding. Whether the financial resources come from specific taxes on airline tickets or on financial transactions, or from North-South transactions based on decentralised cooperation, or new forms of micro-credit, they represent as many new paths we are working on. But this should not replace citizens and public authorities’ involvement nor their awareness of the priority given to public service needs.

We can no longer say that “water is life” without materialising the concept in national and local public policies. It is only by making the cause of water an every-day civic and moral obligation that we will be able to make strong and transparent choices on the management of the resource and acceptable future water-savings efforts.

To do so, we must value knowledge in the technical and management field. We must exchange know-how on the entire water and sanitation cycle. The transfer of knowledge is essential, but it is only useful if adapted to local specificities. These competencies – and we know this for a fact- must integrate the capacity to invest and build, but they must also cover the capacity to manage and maintain water infrastructures.

It is in full awareness of all these questions to which we wish to bring answers that our Council, France and the City of Marseille are preparing the 6th World Water Forum in March in 2012. Our planet needs concrete and credible actions and this is why we decided to focus this coming Forum on the theme of « SOLUTIONS FOR WATER ».

To mark this ambition, we decided that the slogan of the next Forum would be « Time for Solutions ».

Our mobilisation to this effect is extremely strong. It is a civic and political stance: civic because the impulse and solutions first come from the field; and political because commitment to action must involve decision makers.

We will facilitate the collection, dissemination and implementation of these solutions. We want them to lead to “commitments for water” by each State, each local authority who accept to join in.

The World Water Council, with its 350 member organisations, attaches great importance to regional and cross-continental preparatory processes. Central Asia has a very rich water culture and many organizations from all over the World would like to benefit from your experience and your input.

Thus, we encourage you more than ever to be the “voices of water” that will speak for Central Asia and share some concrete, feasible and long-lasting solutions with the rest of the world.

Thank you Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear colleagues and friends for the support that you bring to the cause of water.

I wish all the best to this important event, which will be for sure a stepping stone on the road to the 6th World Water Forum.

The Marseille Forum represents a formidable opportunity for the cause of water. Let’s make the most of this opportunity through your participation and your support.

You are all welcome to join the “Forum of Solutions”, and I look forward to seeing you in Marseille in March 2012.