A World Without Water 1/8
June 14, 2010 - 4:16 am
Every day 300,000 children die due to lack of water and poor sanitation. Billions of people do not have access to safe water. Environmental change threatens to make this situation worse but a more immediate danger is emerging. Control of the world’s water is falling into the hands of the rich and water may soon take the place of oil as the world’s most tradeable – and coveted – commodity – not a basic human right. In a future when market forces set the price of a glass of water, will many more people will be left too poor to drink?
Duration : 0:10:9
Burkina Faso’s first plastic recycling centre is paving the way for a new kind of development project. It provides a money earner to the poor while tackling environmental pollution. Local industry also benefits — the recycled plastic granules cost half the price of importing new plastic from abroad.
Raised in Vancouver and Toronto, Severn Cullis-Suzuki has been camping and hiking all her life. When she was 9 she started the Environmental Children’s Organization (ECO), a small group of children committed to learning and teaching other kids about environmental issues. They were successful in many projects before 1992, when they raised enough money to go to the UN’s Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Their aim was to remind the decision-makers of who their actions or inactions would ultimately affect. The goal was reached when 12 yr old Severn closed a Plenary Session with a powerful speech that received a standing ovation.