Because the future of water is in our hands, both as an individual and collective responsibility, Lyonnaise des Eaux favours a direct, discussion-based approach that is also transparent. We are happy to announce the launch of "New Ideas on Water", a 12-month work programme involving discussion with consumers and all the stakeholders in water in France, from customers, to elected officials, institutional partners, association, environmental experts, economists, and Lyonnaise des Eaux and SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT employees. The various opportunities for dialogue will help everyone understand and define the issues at stake in water in France, and find solutions to them.

Since February 10, 2010, Internet users have been able to participate in the debates in real time as well as discuss, learn, and contribute their ideas on all water-related topics at www.ideesneuvessurleau.net. More than a forum, this new discussion platform compiles the concerns (e.g. protecting water resources, preserving the environment, improving the use and management of water) and the contributions of stakeholders. It regularly offers analyses, articles and in-depth reports for Internet users to state their opinions, discuss, and make suggestions. Come and discuss the future of water with us on www.ideesneuvessurleau.net/idees!

The forum complements the Waterblog, launched by SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT in March 2009, as a further space for personal expression and creativity on the subject of water. www.ideesneuvessurleau.net is intended for all Internet users (from experts to citizen consumers) concerned by the issue of water specifically in France. The platform also has the express goal of encouraging contributions that are "new ideas".

As part of the programme, a New Ideas on Water Forum was also created to publish new suggestions from water specialists in France. Comprising experts, economists, sustainable development specialists, intellectuals and grassroots organisations, the Forum will feature 2 sessions lasting 2 months. For the first session (February-March), the New Ideas on Water Forum will examine the value and price of water. It will be chaired by Erik Orsenna.

Tell us your new ideas on water today, at http://www.ideesneuvessurleau.net.

For more information

Read the platform presentation on www.ideesneuvessurleau.net by Isabelle Kocher, CEO of Lyonnaise des Eaux

The Times website notes however that the plant is stil a "small victory" and that in China, according to a report of the World Bank, more than 53 billion tons of untreated wastewater are released back into the natural environment by factories and private individuals each year. According to Mike Walsh, executive vice president of the Chicago Climate Exchange, "Today, water has a price, which is zero. You can take as much as you want, and pollute it as much as you please. That has to change, and that will change".

Given the risks that this entails in terms of public health and economic growth, the Chinese government has decided to allocate 1.35% of its GNP, or $125 billion, to the environment.

Interviewed by the website of the Times, Jean-Marc Boursier, Chief Financial Officer of SUEZ ENVIRONMENT underlined the fact that China is facing the situation in terms of wastewater treatment that Europe had to face 30 years ago, but the gap should be quickly filled.

Today, Chongqing, like many other Chinese cities, has to face a major challenge, namely, increasing urbanisation, which Zhu Shucai, plant manager of Sino-French Water in Chonqing, illustrated by the increase in water demand of 14% per year, which constitues a further "logisitc nightmare", according to the Times.

Mumbai, the most densely-populated city in India with 13 million inhabitants in 2006, is currently facing a severe water crisis. The quantities of water available have reached a critical level, meaning the various uses of water resources have to be prioritised.

The problem is even greater in the poor quarters of the city, such that many of the residents in these neighbourhoods are being forced to drink unsafe water. Many water cuts were expected in January, sometimes for as long as 24 hours. 

The Head of the Governement on the Indian state of Maharashtra of which Mumbai is the capital, insists that the production of potable water for consumption by residents is the top priority, and that all ancillary uses of water, such as cleaning buses or trains, have been reduced or eliminated. 

The anger of the inhabitants is growing, a fortiori in the poor districts. They accuse the elected officials of not acting sufficiently quickly to find a solution to this major problem. 

According to Dr. Lê Kê Son, Deputy head of the General Administration of the environment, "the relatively rapid process of urbanisation and industrialisation in Vietnam has had a considerable impact on the environment and natural resources, which generates large volumes of wastewater and waste".

At year-end 2008, Vietnam had 126 industrial zones discharging some one million cubic meters of wastewater each day. Only 63 of them, however, had a wastewater treatment system.

Faced with these problems, "the participants at the conference agreed to create suitable conditions for public and private companies, specialised in the water and environmental services sector", according to the Courrier du Vietnam. The goal is to have 40% of all urban areas and 70% of all industrial and free zones equipped with wastewater treatment systems compliant with environmental standards by 2010.

Frédéric Gourdin, Director of SUEZ ENVIRONMENT China at that time, presented the model and the solutions applied by SUEZ ENVIRONMENT  in Chongqing and Shanghai. Le Courrier du Vietnam reported that "according to [Mr Gourdin], public-private partnerships are an effective and legitimate response to the challenges in water management".

For his part, Dr. Lê Kê Son said that "France is a country very experienced un public-private partnerchips", and hoped that "the French experiences presented today will help the Vietnamese party enhance the effectiveness of its Environment policies".

According to the Congolese Minister for the Environment, José Endundo the AMESD is "therefore going to set up global structures for satellite observation of changes in rain basins, which also will force politicians in Africa to adopt a genuine water policy". He hoped that the conference will help States achieve a well-balanced management of water and forest resources.

With funding from the European Union through the European Development Fund, estimated at 21 million euros, the African Union should set up satellite infrastructures in five regions of Africa for the observation of river basins and other inland water resources.

Implemented by the African Union, the AMESD aims to monitor the continental environment impacts of climate change in Africa by enhancing the use of satellite observation technology.

Find out more

• Download the full report of the study of the 2030 WATER RESOURCES GROUP  "Charting our water future"
• Download the summary of the study of the 2030 WATER RESOURCES GROUP "Charting our water future"

• McKinsey&Company
• financial institutions (International finance corporation, Standard Chartered Bank)
• agricultural companies (New Holland agriculture, Syngenta)
• several industrial companies (Barilla, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and the South African brewer SABMiller)
• and a dozen experts.

In particular, the study highlighted the fact that companies are worried about possible water shortages, which could pose an "increasing business risk, and [represent] a major economic threat". They believe that the water issue will have "serious implications for the stability of the countries in which the firms operate, and for industries whose value chains are vulnerable to the scarcity of water".

The somewhat pessimistic study predicts that the global water needs will rise from 4,500 billion m3 at present to 6,900 billion m3 in 2030. In agriculture alone, they could represent 4,500 billion m3 in 2030, representing 65% of world water requirements.

The authors of the study recommend in particular:

• productivity gains in the agricultural sector be improved
• the efficiency of local authority water distribution systems be increased
• companies be made aware of the importance of the responsible use of water.

Overall, the "2030 Water Resources Group" believes that we must primarily promote dialogue between stakeholders to improve coordination and increase awareness.

The study entitled "Charting our Future Water" was based on 4 major countries (China, India, South Africa and Brazil) which together should represent 40% of the world population, 30% of the global GDP and 42% of the global water demand in 2030.

Find out more

Download the full report of the study of the 2030 WATER RESOURCES GROUP "Charting our water future"

Download the summary of the study

Directed at policy makers in governments as well as donors and other stakeholders, its aim is to better understand the contribution of water Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) to help improve the provision of water and sanitation services to the urban populations of the developing world.

The study hopes to bring objective considerations to the debate between proponents of privatisation and public water utilities. Effectiveness is judged based on four criteria:

• access to running water, including the guaranteed pressure and number of hours per day;
• service quality;
• operating efficiency, particularly in reducing network losses;
• fees.

The study concludes that "well-managed public utilities can be found", but that "the private sector has much to offer". 

The World Bank also concludes that long-term contracts in which operators are completely in control of operations are the most effective.

Jean-Luc Touly, President of the NGO Contrat Mondial de l’Eau (ACME France), emphasises that "since the summer, multinationals have been trying to open dialogue with opponents of privatisation and to set up participatory agreements with non-governmental organisations in developing countries and consumers’ organisations in developed countries. In this way they hope to ensure monitoring and control of concessions and break down suspicions."

Find out more:

Download the complete World Bank report, "Public-Private Partnerships for Urban Water Utilities"

Within the Copenhagen Conference on climate, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT has presented its contribution to international action to confront climate change through a “White Paper”.

This publication presents our vision and our understanding of this phenomenon, our own commitments and the commitments we assume for our customers. It addresses the progress made in the innovative technological solutions we are developing, which, once deployed, can contribute to fighting climate change and contending with its consequences.

The challenge of climate change is double:

• Attenuate climate change. As it began over a century ago, we won’t be able to stop it, but we can try to attenuate it. We must implement solutions and take strong commitments aimed at combating climate change by reducing GHG emissions, through recycling, energy efficiency solutions, the production of renewable energies, etc.

• Adapt and confront the consequences of climate change. As climate change cannot be stopped but only slowed, it is absolutely fundamental to anticipate the consequences of a rise in average global temperatures and to adapt our solutions to challenges: fighting wastage, desalination, reutilising wastewater, etc…

In this publication, Jean-Louis Chaussade reaffirms the need to join in a participative initiative: “To act intelligently in one of the greatest crises that has ever threatened humanity, I am convinced that coordinating efforts, discussion and partnership are the best attitudes to adopt.”

For more information:

Download the publication

As part of that analysis, the French National Observatory on the Effects of Climate Warming (ONERC) has just submitted its third report to Jean-Louis Borloo, the French Minister for Ecology. Produced by some 200 experts in the administrative services concerned and in conjunction with research organisations and stakeholders in the private sector, the work has produced results for ten key sectors: natural risks, water resources, biodiversity, health, road infrastructures, agriculture, forestry, energy, tourism and regional development.

The report indicates that the annual costs related to climate change could reach several billion euros if adaptive measures are not quickly taken.

The Government may have to face a number of major challenges in every economic sector, including rising water levels in certain regions (Languedoc-Roussillon in particular),  water shortages in others, housing and infrastructures in floodable areas,  weakened road infrastructures, disrupted tourist seasons, forest fires or repeated heat waves …

As far as the rarefaction of water resources is concerned, while the demand for water will remain identical, the report estimates that in 2050, there could be an annual shortage in drinking water of some 2 billion cubic metres (out of 32 billion m³). The areas most affected will be the same as today, beginning with the whole of the South-west of France, and could result in increasing numbers of conflicts of use between farmers, manufacturers and private individuals.

Rising sea levels will incur major costs in certain areas: in Languedoc-Roussillon alone, thousands of houses will be concerned with a cost evaluated at several tens of billions of euros. Similarly, the damage caused by drought to houses built on clay soil could increase the cost of repairs from 220 million euros a year to 700 million, and even 1.3 billion euros by 2100, according to the most pessimistic scenarios.

To face the situation, several possible types of adaptive measures have been identified that could limit the negative effects of climate change. Most of the measures, however, depend to a great degree on regional characteristics, and will therefore have to be individually examined at the local level.

The data compiled by the report and the possible adaptive measures it proposes will be used to launch a national plan for adaptation to climate change by 2011, in accordance with the framework plan laid down during the Grenelle Environmental Summit.

For more information:

• Download the complete version of the ONERC report (in French)
• Visit the website of the French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea (in French)
• Read the article in l’Express.fr dated 10/11/09 (in French)
  
• Read the article in the Figaro dated 06/11/09 (in French)
• Read the AFP wire dated 05/11/09 (in French)
   

The World Bank study has two major goals:

• to estimate the global cost to developing countries of adapting to climate change, and
• to help decision-makers in these countries better understand and assess the risks arising from climate change and to adopt more effective adaptation strategies favouring the most vulnerable populations.

A second report based on case studies in seven countries addresses this second goal and will be published by the spring of 2010.

> A major burden for developing countries

According to the World Bank, developing countries will suffer "about 75 - 80%" of the damage arising from climate change, even though they only account for roughly one third of world greenhouse gas emissions.

The study further reports that the East Asian and Pacific regions will face the highest adaptation costs, followed by Latin America, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

> The most striking conclusion: the financial cost of adapting distribution networks and water management

The study goes on to report that the financial cost of adapting distribution networks and water management would be the highest of all the costs caused by adaptation to climate change.  Over the next forty years, the Bank estimates that the net adaptation costs for water managers, private or public, will amount to some USD 10 to 11.1 billion per year.

The adaptation cost for water supply and flood management in the EACC study is higher than previously calculated by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in 2007. The World Bank says this is because it has tried to include a number of costs that UNFCC overlooked, such as the costs of maintaining water quality standards and operating costs.
 

For more information:

• Download the EACC report
• Download the presentation on the EACC report
• Read the article in French-language daily Libération (French only)
• Read the article in WASH News International