In the run-up to the 2015 World Water
Forum in South Korea on April 12, Transnational Institute with four
organisations[1] have released new research on the growing
wave of cities worldwide that are taking previously
privatised water supply and sanitation services back under public
control, in a process called remunicipalisation.
The report reveals that over the last 15
years, 235 cases of water remunicipalisation have been recorded in 37
countries, impacting on more than 100 million people. Moreover the pace of
remunicipalisation is accelerating dramatically, doubling in the 2010-2015
period compared with 2000-2010.
The launch of the book Our public water future: The global
experience with remunicipalisation comes in the wake
of Jakarta’s decision in March 2015 to annul its privatised water contracts
citing the violation of the 9.9 million residents’ human right to water. This
is the largest remunicipalisation in the world.
Cases are currently concentrated in
high-income countries, with 184 remunicipalisations compared to 51 in low- and
middle-income countries. The great majority have taken place in two countries:
France (94), home of two of the world’s private water companies, Suez and
Veolia, and the United States (58).
PSI Deputy General Secretary David Boys
said, “This new report confirms the acceleration of remunicipalisation in the
past five years. We ask the World Bank and other development actors to
integrate these findings into their policies and programmes and to immediately
stop imposing failed privatisation around the world.”
Lead editor and Transnational Institute
water expert Satoko Kishimoto said: “This report shows that water
privatisation, which has been promoted so heavily in recent years, is
increasingly being rejected by cities worldwide after years of failed promises,
poor services and high prices. The pendulum is swinging back in favour of
public water, because of the strong evidence that remunicipalisation brings
immediate cost savings, operational effectiveness, increased investment, higher
levels of transparency and accountability.”
“Remunicipalisation offers
opportunities for developing socially desirable, environmentally sustainable
and quality water services benefiting present and future generations – issues
that receive little attention by private water operators concerned with profits
and shareholders,” adds the former Deputy Mayor of Paris Anne Le Strat,
who was behind the flagship 2010 remunicipalisation of water in the French
capital. “Moreover, public water operators are now joining forces within and
across countries to support and learn from each other so we can achieve the
human right to water for all.”
The book Our public water future: The global
experience with remunicipalisation comes out as
global leaders are gathering for the World Water Forum, which is dominated by
private water operators and has been a key proponent of water privatisation in
recent years.
For more information, please contact
Satoko Kishimoto, Transnational Institute (GMT+1 email: satoko@tni.org; telephone +32 474486268) or
Emanuele Lobina, PSIRU (GMT0 email: e.lobina@gre.ac.uk;
telephone +44(0)2083318476)
Notes:
1. Public
Services International Research Unit (PSIRU), Multinational Observatory, Municipal
Services Project (MSP) and European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU)
2. The
report can be downloaded at http://www.tni.org/briefing/our-public-water-future
from April 9. If you want an embargoed copy, please email [satoko@tni.org]
3. For an
interactive world map, visit: http://www.remunicipalisation.org
The Transnational Institute (TNI) is an international
research and advocacy institute committed to building a just, democratic and
sustainable world. For more than 40 years, TNI has served as a unique nexus
between social movements, engaged scholars and policy makers. http://www.tni.org
Public Services International (PSI) is a
global trade union federation representing 20 million working women and men who
deliver vital public services in 150 countries. PSI champions human rights,
advocates for social justice and promotes universal access to quality public
services. PSI works with the United Nations system and in partnership with
labour, civil society and other organisations. http://www.world-psi.org