According
to the United Nations, drinkable water is a basic human right. You would think
that means that all human beings are entitled to clean, fresh drinking water,
but big companies like Nestle are beginning to challenge that. Water
privatization is becoming an issue very quickly, as fresh water supplies continue
to deplete.
Peter
Brabeck, chairman of the food and drink company Nestle, brought this controversy
into mainstream awareness. In 2005, he released a video about food security. In
this video, there is a clip that continues to circulate of him claiming that
the right to water is “extreme” and the world would be better off if the
distribution of water was privatized. However, in a video released 2013,
Brabeck claims that water is indeed a human right. This apparent flip-flopping
has left many people confused or outraged at Nestle. It all boils down to this:
should we or should we not allow water privatization to occur?
Technically
speaking, water has already been privatized. In most of the U.S., you can buy bottled
water in a store, school cafeteria, or restaurant, but you also have the option
to drink tap water or other fresh water. In many other countries people don’t
have those same options, even in certain places in the U.S. Giving everyone access
clean, drinkable water has long been a problem, but now there is the added
issue of allowing big corporations like Nestle to take over the distribution.
Different
corporations have different stances on exactly how far to take water
privatization. When most people hear the words “water privatization,” they immediately
call foul and become enraged that big companies are trying to take water away
from them. Yes, some of these corporations do want to market water as a symbol
of wealth or sell it for their own profit, but not all of them do. Some, like Nestle claims, only want to raise
awareness of the scarcity of water and make people understand how precious it
is. Peter Brabeck claims that he and the company Nestle are just trying to push
for more efficient water management and distribution. Whether or not this is
their true intention is hard to say.
In
Europe, the threat of water privatization is more pressing. The European
Commission (EU) has been pushing an agenda to privatize the water industry in
Germany. The people fear many different possibilities that may come from this,
such as lower water quality, misuse of profits, and forced privatization.
Yet
another reason why water privatization is becoming such an issue is its effect
on areas that already have a dangerously low water supply. A recent example is
the massive drought currently occurring in California. Evidently, Nestle has been
drawing out massive amounts of water to bottle and sell from California,
regardless of the drought. While Californians are being advised to conserve
their water as much as possible, a large, wealthy corporation is apparently
draining the remaining water resources for profit. There is concern that this
will become a pattern if water distribution is privatized.
Read
more about this issue in the articles linked below. Watch the videos of Peter
Brabeck understand the confusion over Nestle’s stance on water.
