Country & City Focus

Berlin Water back in Public Hands

The deal between the Berlin Government and Veolia seems to be finally negotiated: For 590 M€ (+54 M€ extras) Berlin will buy back the 24,9% shares of the Berlin Water Company (BWB), which have been in the hands of Veolia since 1999. After RWE had sold its shares (24,9%) for 658 M€ in 2012 the biggest municipal PPP-Project in Germany has come to an end.

This is a big success for the 666000 Berlin citizens who opened the way to this remunicipalisation by a referendum in 2011, the first one ever won in Berlin.

River Ebro Challenge

We, people from the Ebro Delta Region in south Catalonia, would like to invite you to acknowledge and support our campaign to protect our river, its Delta and ecosystems and our livelihoods. The Ebro Delta is one of the most important wetland areas in southern Europe, but is extremely fragile.

We have handed in a Petition to the European Parliament in order to ask politicians to take action against the Ebro River Management Plan which, as it is formulated now, would cause an environmental disaster and the disappearance of 80% of the territory in 50 years.

The Ebro River Management plan draft is affected by economic fraud, technical incoherence and a serious lack of democracy in its elaboration.

Open letter to french people

Les tyrans ont toujours quelque ombre de vertu Ils soutiennent les lois avant de les abattre.
Voltaire
(Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them.)

Frenchmen, our brothers!

On the 19th of February, your President, François Hollande, visited the capital of our country, Athens. “Our message to Greece is a message of friendship, support, trust and growth” stated your President and asked the French corporations to invest… to invest in land and water.

Hollande and Samaras (Greek PM) talk about “investments” in the sector of water resources management, resources which are protected by the Greek Constitution, and belong to none, nor the Prime minister, to trade them in.

Fight for the Ebro River Delta

Support the fight for the Ebro River Delta!

Sign the petition: http://dmadeltaebre.blogspot.com.es/

THE RIVER

The River Ebro is one of the longest rivers in Spain, with a length of 930 Km and a River Basin of 86,100 Km2. Its source is in Fontibre (Cantabria), and it passes through nine Autonomous Communities before flowing into the Mediterranean sea where it forms the Ebro Delta (Catalonia). It is the third longest river in the Mediterranean, after the Rhone and the Nile. Its ecological richness is recognized at national and international levels. Most of the Delta is a National Park, recognized as being of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention. It is a Special Protection Area for Birds (SPAB - 79/409/CEE), a Community Interest Area (CIA - 85/337/EEC) and, furthermore, it is currently under review to be declared a Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO).

The Platfom Aigua és Vida (Water is Life) and the citizens of Barcelona need your support

The Platfom Aigua és Vida (Water is Life) and the citizens of Barcelona need your support, please sign the MANIFESTO of support here.

Many of us are suffering every day the impacts of water privatisation. In Catalonia the monopolist and for-profit approach water service is widely extended, having most of the municipalities their water service privatised and managed by AGBAR, subsidiary of the french multinational SUEZ. The contempt and impacts of SUEZ all over the world is well-known for all of you, with some rellevant examples like the cancellation of the contracts in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Córdoba (Argentina), La Paz y El Alto (Bolivia), Atlanta (UEA), París (France), etc, or the strong opposition in El Saltillo (Mexico), Johannesburg (South Africa), Jakarta (Indonesia) or Manila (Philippines), among many others.

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