On July 28, the General Assembly of the United Nations recognised in a resolution that “the right to clean, healthy water is a fundamental right, essential to the full exercise of the right to life and of all human rights”. A symbolic advance in the “International Water Decade 2005-2015 Water for Life” proclaimed by the United Nations (UN).

A gigantic iceberg, baptised Petermann Island by the National Ice Center, has broken off from the glacier of the same name, in the north of Greenland, sending an “alarm signal” according to experts concerned about the consequences of rising ocean temperatures on the melting of ice caps.

The 20th World Water Week in Stockholm takes place on 5-11 September this year. The topic is “Responding to global changes: the water quality challenge”. It will bring together policy makers, international organizations, water business professionals and scientists from all over the world to review the progress made in access to water and water quality.

On Wednesday 4 August, Vann Monyneath, the Chairman of the 21st Forum of ASEAN, the Association of South-East Asian Nations, highlighted the socioeconomic impact of climate change in the region. He called on ASEAN nations to develop effective measures to cope with climate change. One of the most sensitive points for the region’s authorities is the Mekong delta in southern Vietnam, where the dry-season intrusion of thousands of liters of salt water reaches further upstream each year. The general deterioration of water resources means that the Vietnamese authorities must now take urgent adaptive measures to preserve a fragile ecosystem.

A report recently published by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and Ocean2012, two NGOs working together to protect the oceans, claims that by July 9 of this year, the European Union had consumed the totality of annual fishing quotas from its own waters and became “fish dependent”, relying on imports to meet demand.

On 1 July, the International Office for Water (IOW) presented a critical inventory of mountain water sources. The review precedes the 3rd International Congress on Water in Mountains, to be held in Mégève, Switzerland on 22 - 24 September 2010, to counter the impacts of climate change on mountain water sources.

The 27 EU environment ministers met on 14 June in Luxembourg to discuss three key challenges that lie ahead: how to manage and anticipate water shortages and droughts, how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and finally what programme should be adopted to protect European forests against climate change.

According to a statement by the World Bank, Mali has begun a programme to increase farm productivity, for which the country will benefit from investments of $ 160 million.

On the occasion of World Oceans Day, June 8 this year, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said it was essential to manage and conserve marine ecosystems better in order to sustain the ecological services they render to the planet.

The first of two reports examining the future of the water supply in Canada has just been published by the “National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy “. It analyses the use of resources throughout Canada and considers the future challenges.