“Bad water kills more than wars”

World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, is an annual meeting dedicated to the planet’s most urgent water-related issues. Organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), a policy institute seeking sustainable solutions to the world’s escalating water crisis, it brings together experts, practitioners, decision makers and leaders from around the globe to exchange ideas, foster new thinking and develop solutions.

Mr Berntell has worked within the environmental field for more than 20 years. Prior to joining SIWI as Executive Director in 2002 (his current post) he was Water Director at the Swedish Ministry of the Environment.

Vita Europe interviews Mr. Anders Berntell on the main issues regarding 2010 World Water Week and on water related topics.

Water pollution is one of the challenges at this edition of the World Water Week. How do think it is possible to prevent and abate water pollution?

It is necessary to have strong and good legislations. We have this kind of legislation in Europe for the most part, but it needs to be implemented. Strong and independent authorities are needed to implement the existing legislation with stronger enforcement. In many cases around the world that legislation might exist, but enforcement is lacking. I think this is one of the main challenges in the world.

On July 26, 2010, a UN resolution titled “The Human Right to Water and Sanitation” was approved. Do you think this is an important achievement?

I think the resolution by the General Assembly of the UN is a good step in the right direction. In my opinion it is important to recognize that there is a universal right to water and sanitation. The problem is that the resolution of the General Assembly is not legally binding. It is a good step forward, but it doesn’t really solve the problem. A legally binding right to water and sanitation has to be dealt within the Convention on Human Rights, which is another part of the UN system. There is an ongoing process within the UN system that later on, I think in 2011 will be ready for discussion and then also for decision.

Do you think the best way to guarantee the right to water is through privatization or nationalization?

I don’t think the matter is if water services are privately operated or operated by the public. I think the ownership of water, and also water services should be in the hands of the public sector, but the operation could be contracted out to a private company. What is more important is the regulation of the services, which is something that in most cases is in the hands of public authorities. First of all there should be a good public regulator, that has to decide the conditions of operation for private companies.

See Attachements for full interview with Anders Berntell.