Paying for clean water
There’s a wider point here—that in general the private sector would never be profitable if it had to pay for the environmental capital it gets through—but it’s rare to see such a clear cut example.
water privatization
Turning utility companies into investment vehicles
Over the course of a series of books, Christophers has researched the nature of different forms of rentier capitalism—in Britain and elsewhere. His latest book focuses on the way the infrastructure sector is financed in the post-privatisation era, in Britain and elsewhere.
‘Chile Has Entirely Privatised Water, Which Means that Theft is Institutionalised’
Water is in the hands of large producers who have dried out our territory and compromised the lives of our communities. Ours is an extreme case: Chile has entirely privatised water, which means that theft is institutionalised. Chile has clearly prioritised extractive industries over the rights of communities to water.
Fighting Water Privatization with ‘Blue Communities’
A Blue Community is an act of hope. Instead of being against the many threats to water, a Blue Community offers a vision for the future based on the belief that water is a human right and a public trust. It also tackles the growing crisis of plastic pollution by committing a municipality (or university or place to worship, etc.) to phasing out bottled water on its premises.
New Orleans’ Summer of Floods Revives the Threat of Privatization
As climate change intensifies weather events like the rainstorms that keep hitting New Orleans, the burden on cities’ infrastructure gets heavier. At the same time, the backlog of deferred maintenance in most of the country has weakened these systems’ resilience. Most municipal governments are ill-equipped to handle the increasingly urgent overhauls, especially if they’ve just been hit with a major disaster. That opens a window for private companies — so-called “disaster capitalists” — to make their pitch.
Reversing the Tide: Cities and Countries are Rebelling Against Water Privatization, and Winning
Private companies have been working to make a profit from water since the 1600s, when the first water companies were established in England and Wales.
Fifteen years of community-controlled water in Bolivia
Important lessons can and should be learned in our struggles to defend the land and commons from what took place and continues to take place in Bolivia.
Resisting water privatisation under austerity
Despite explicit opposition from hundreds of thousands of European citizens, the sovereign debt crisis has given new momentum to the privatisation of water services in many European countries.
Will Detroit’s Water be Privatized or Recognized as Commons?
When it comes to a person’s fundamental needs being met – nothing is more basic and human, than to share.
Greeks stand up to protect their water from privatization
Greece knows a thing or two about democracy. And as an increasingly arid nation, good water management is fundamental to its future, both political and physical. The recent financial crisis hasn’t only tested Greek democracy, but its water as well.