Oxfam denounces a “monopoly by multinationals” in France and around the world

In a report, the NGO deplores an “unsustainable increase in global water consumption” despite climate change and repeated droughts. She believes that France “still manages its resource as if it were abundant”.

In a report published Thursday March 21, Oxfam denounces “water grabbing by multinationals” in France and around the world. The NGO’s 32-page document targets industry and the agri-food sector in particular and warns of the risks for water resources. – one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water in the world, according to the UN – in a context of resource scarcity due to climate change.

Oxfam also denounces “unsustainable increase in global water consumption linked to an extractivist and ultra-productivist economic model”with a consequence: risks on “human rights”. Large companies and their practices are targeted by the NGO, whose conclusions come on the eve of World Water Day on Friday March 22.

“The private sector seizes the resource and pollutes it to the detriment of populations to make profits, which further increases inequalities of access.”

The NGO is concerned about “grabbing [qui] is part of a neocolonial logic aimed at satisfying the consumption needs of the countries of the North to the detriment of the countries of the South.

“Adapting to scarcity”

Several examples are cited, such as the importation by rich countries of products that consume a lot of water, the installation of polluting industries or the exploitation of rare water-intensive minerals in territories experiencing water stress. Oxfam explains that Ethiopia “exported $4.1 billion worth of goods”notably coffee, meat and flowers, while the country suffers from a historic and lasting drought.

The NGO also takes the example of an oil company in Colombia, Perenco, which “must extract nine barrels of water to produce one barrel of oil.” She also singles out the bottled water industry. “In many cases, companies are banking on water shortages, which they themselves are making worse.”, analyzes Quentin Ghesquière, campaign manager at Oxfam. And remember that bottled water is sold “150 to 1,000 times more expensive than tap water” And cites in particular the example of Danone, which threatens water resources.

Oxfam finally judges that France “still manages its resource as if it were abundant when it should adapt to its scarcity. She emphasizes the impact of agriculture on the resource and highlights water reservoirs, called mega-basins by their opponents, financed largely by public money. Among the solutions put forward, the NGO offers “create a normative framework to regulate multinationals, at international and European level” and also insists on the need for the agro-industry to change its practices.