The world needs to mobilize up to $7 trillion by 2030 for global water infrastructure, if we are to meet our water-related SDG commitments and address decades of underinvestment. That’s what the World Bank says in its believe in technological big-money solutions with huge desalination plants, more dams to destroy rivers etc. And in its almost religious neoliberal belief in what they call the “free market”, they keep calling for private money, for companies and corporations, for so-called Public-Private Partnership (PPP). But even the World Bank has to see the reality:
“However, nearly 91% of annual spending on water comes from the public sector, including governments and state-owned enterprises, with less than 2% contributed by the private sector.”
Desperate calls for private money won’t change that. But even the new Mexican government and its Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina is urging collaboration through public-private partnerships and investment.
Calling for private money will only attract capital and shareholders looking for (fast) profits. Financing is crucial, yes. But no common good and no human right should depend on private money and shareholder interests. Look at the UK, where that gets you to. Tax the rich again, as it used to be, and there is plenty of public money for public interests. And set the priorities for public investments accordingly instead of wasting money on destructive spendings.
Roland Brunner, Blue Community Zurich
Read:
-
Pemmy Majodina Calls for Unity and Public-Private Partnerships at Africa and Cairo Water Weeks. On: Devdiscourse, 16 October 2024
- The Promise and Peril of Water Markets, here on our website.
- List of academic articles on the financialisation of water here on our website
- My Essay on markets, money, and moral. Or: Why private companies are not interested in solving problems. Here on this website.
