COMMONS IN THE FIELD

Posted
October 6, 2009

Water is a Commons for All

A report co-produced by Maude Barlow and On TheCommons

On the Commons worked with Maude Barlow, senior advisor on water to the president of the United Nations General Assembly, to publish a recent report outlining the commons as a new strategy in the campaign for water justice around the world. The report “Our Water Commons” can be downloaded: here.

“Transnational corporation view water as saleable and tradable commodity, not as a commons,” she writes, “and are set to create a cartel resembling the one that now controls every facet of energy.” She notes that private water companies are pursuing big profits in controlling municipal water services, groundwater and watersheds. She quotes Goldman Sachs touting, “Water is a growth driver for as long and far as the eye can see.”

Barlow, a longtime Canadian social activist, is co-author of the bestselling book Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop Corporate Theft of the World’s Water.

Our Water Commons appears in both English and Spanish editions.