Posted on 03/20/2005 7:05:12 PM PST by NormsRevenge
GENEVA (AFP) - Hundreds of activists appealed for a global tax on water and the creation of a "world water parliament" to protect its distribution, at the closing of the Alternative World Water Forum.
The two-day forum's goal is to "promote the creation of a world public service for water" through a series of concrete measures, said Bastienne Joerchel of a Swiss charity group.
The forum proposed introducing a one-cent tax on water worldwide, which would avoid having to use private funding for the distribution of water.
A global water parliament -- expected to hold its first meeting in Brussels next year -- would establish the rules to assure the equitable distribution of the vital resource.
About 1,200 people from around the globe and 150 non-governmental organizations participated in the forum that opened Friday, including the former Portuguese president Mario Soares, co-chairman of the meeting held ahead of Tuesday's World Water Day.
The United Nations (news - web sites) will launch Tuesday its global campaign called "Water for life," which aims to cut by half the number of people worldwide who do not have access to drinking water by 2015.
The forum also adopted an action plan for the recognition of water as a human right, its use for the common good, and called for public financing and democratic control of the resource.
Riccardo Petrella, a professor at Lugano University in Switzerland, called for water to be excluded from the negotiations at the World Trade Organization (news - web sites) on the liberalization of services, and said the World Bank (news - web sites) should stop requiring the privatization of water as a condition for granting loans.
Not just no, HELL NO.
And then Sonny Bono will stand up and demand that every country be exempt except the US.
Another disastrous socialist plan.
Actually, we don't have too little water.
We have too many people.
I am, of course, against this.
Oh, man. I just returned from laughing at DU posts and saw this. Too...much...liberal...crap! These idiots can tax their own water as much as they want, but a "global water tax"? Where do they come up with this stuff?
The first thing we should do is promote global warming. We need to melt as much of the ice cover as possible to free up the trapped fresh water supplies.
What's next... some nutters wanting to taxing the air I breathe?
OOPS. I mean the guy from U2. Who is he?
no doubt water's the next big grab.
billionaires are buying up water.
for example, denver's reticent philip anschutz, who started the company that owns qwest, the 14-state telephone co, recently bought underground water around el paso, tx.
Bono, simply Bono.
We need to develop and alternative wetting agent. We are too dependent on water and it is hurting the environment. We need a source for reliable organic water.
One cent per liter? Per acre-foot? Per cupful?...
Coastal nations could construct (one-way porous) barriers at the 200-mile limit and begin massive desalizization projects; their wealth would be immeasurable. Land-locked nations, well, sorry about that.
--Boris
so much for the internal combustion engine i developed that runs on water... man i hate this... just when i've finally worked out all the bugs so we can finally be independent of foreign countries for energy...
well, back to the drawing board...
teeman
Now hold on there, pardner. I've got the answer for global warming. It's called 'nuclear winter', starting with North Korea & Iran.
Now you say we need to promote global warming. Gee whiz, I wish y'all would make up your minds.
;^D
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