Statement - In Response to the conclusion of the UN Independent Expert on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation’s mission to the U.S.

By Kelle Louaillier, Executive Director, Corporate Accountability International

For Immediate Release: March 4, 2011

Corporate Accountability International congratulates Catarina de Albuquerque,

the UN Independent Expert on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation, as well

as her staff, on the conclusion of her mission to the United States. Her mission

created an important opportunity for communities working to protect their right to

water from corporate interests to share their stories and offer recommendations

on how public officials have a responsibility to take action to address these

concerns.

Corporate Accountability International was pleased to join with community

partners from California, Michigan and Maine in meeting directly with the

Independent Expert and providing details of how communities across the country

have struggled to retain control of their local water resources from food and

beverage giant Nestlé. At a time when the world is facing a global water crisis

where two in three people may soon not have enough water to meet their basic

needs, water bottlers like Nestlé are undermining the human right to water by

attempting to manipulate and strong-arm communities into handing over their

water rights – often after strong objections. These activists shared their stories in

hopes that the UN will take immediate action to secure the human right to water

and prevent profiteers from abusing more communities like theirs around the

world.

Overall, the Independent Expert’s preliminary remarks on the conclusion of her

mission make a strong case as to why the U.S. needs to make realization of the

human right to water a priority. In particular she:

• recognizes the concerns of community groups working to protect the

human right to water from water bottling corporations like Nestlé, and calls

on government officials to exercise proper oversight of the bottled water

industry;

• urges the federal government to continue funding water infrastructure in

a manner that ensures this funding is not only sustained but also benefits

those most in need of improved access to water; and,

• calls on the federal government to adopt a national water policy that would

be guided by human rights norms, as well as a mandatory standard on

affordability.

We hope that the work of the Independent Expert will help move U.S. decision

makers to take a more progressive stance on the human right to water.

Unfortunately, the U.S. lags behind other countries in acknowledging the

rights underpinning the right to water. Our government has not joined many

international treaties that affirm economic, social and cultural rights, and

historically has been reluctant to affirm the human right to water itself.

Meanwhile, our country faces big challenges. Our water infrastructure is aging,

in need of major rehabilitation, and investment in infrastructure is underfunded

to the tune of at least $23 billion a year. Yet, Congress is proposing cuts to the

federal budget that would greatly decrease, not increase federal funding for water

infrastructure.

While our allies in California, Maine, and Michigan — the McCloud Watershed

Association, the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation and Shapleigh/

Newfield’s Protect our Water and Wildlife Resources — have had victories in

protecting their local water resources, bottlers like Nestlé continue to search for

new sources of water to feed their rapidly expanding bottled water business.

Meanwhile, some cash-strapped state and local governments dealing with the

fallout of the recession are considering selling off or handing over control of local

water system to private corporations, whose promises of efficiency and savings

often come up empty and are replaced by big rate increases, layoffs and cuts in

service that benefit corporate bottom lines not the public interest.

Protecting the human right to water and ensuring people’s access to this

essential resource is one of the most critical issues of our lifetime. We extend

our appreciation to the Independent Expert for her visit to the U.S. and her

attentiveness to the concerns of communities across the country.

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Corporate Accountability International (formerly Infact) is a membership

organization that has, for the last 33 years, successfully advanced campaigns

protecting health, the environment and human rights. Through its Campaign

Challenging Corporate Control of Water, Corporate Accountability International

is playing a leadership role in the global movement to secure the human right to

water, and people’s access to water; prevent corporate control of water; preserve

and protect water resources and systems for the public good; and preserve water

resources as an ecological trust.