2002 Stockholm Statement (Recommendations from the Stockholm Water Symposia, 1998-2002)
Sept. 23, 2002 -- The Scientific Programme Committee at the 2002 Stockholm Water Symposium released its 2002 Stockholm Statement containing recommendations for a sustainable future on a global scale. A condensed version of the statement follows.
The Development Target set by UN Millennium Assembly - to halve by 2015 the people living in extreme poverty, suffering from hunger or unable to reach or afford safe drinking water - will not be achieved unless governments realize that water is involved in almost every kind of development and human activity, and that water is the key to socio-economic development and quality of life.
Water issues are by no means the sole concern of experts. They constitute nothing less than a central question of human survival: water is everybody's business. Water is closely related to both eradication of poverty, economic and social development, food security and environmental security.
Five years of Stockholm Water Symposia have identified four fundamental principles upon which all governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and other policy and decision making bodies have to take urgent action to ensure that water security in its broadest sense becomes reality during the next generation. Supported by the participants at the 2002 Stockholm Water Symposium, the Scientific Programme Committee forwards the following principles as a basis for action at Johannesburg, Kyoto and beyond.
The water cycle provides the common lifeblood of all people, all human activities and all ecosystems. The ultimate freshwater resource is the precipitation within a river basin, in other words the landscape within a water divide. Precipitation is partitioned between the "green water" flow, i e the part which is transpired and/or literally consumed in plant production, and thereby not available for reuse downstream, and the "blue water" flow, which forms the runoff in rivers and aquifers and is available for societal use and in-stream functions.
Principle 1. Water users must be involved in the governance of water resources
In reality, the users are the ultimate governors of water. They must comply with best possible knowledge, brought to them by effective education and training, and take a more active responsibility for achieving sustainable water management. But governments must rule not only through legislation, but also through dialogue, as the ultimate test of policy is social acceptance and compliance in the field.
Principle 2. The link between economic growth and water degradation must be urgently broken
A fundamental dilemma is that most of the processes that generate wealth also generate huge amounts of pollution. A more adequate attention to water pollution is imperative in order to avoid water pollution-driven convulsions that will otherwise threaten the world community in the coming decades.
Principle 3. Urban water services are crucial for urban stability and security
An engineered flow of usable water accessible for everybody through a city is a necessary condition for the health and survival of its inhabitants and also for the functioning of industries, hospitals and other city components. A secured water supply and safe sanitation is essential for sustainable city development.
Principle 4. Policy, planning and implementation must be based on integrated solutions
Water's movement from the water divide to the river mouth links land use, water resources and ecosystems in a river basin. It is therefore essential to secure coherent water, land use and ecosystem policies and to integrate sectorized approaches to water management that still dominate all over the world. Institutional arrangements have to allow and facilitate a crosscutting dialogue.
With increasing water competition, people become more and more interdependent. Water must therefore be turned into a catalyst for co-operation rather than a cause of conflict. Water's basic importance for development is a fundamental message to be propagated from the highest possible political level down to individual users. Water resources constraints must be an integral component of macro-economic models as well as security and vulnerability considerations. To accomplish water security the radical shift in thinking must be reflected in feasible policies and institutional arrangements.
Source: Stockholm Water Institute. To read the full text version of the 2002 STOCKHOLM STATEMENT, visit the Stockholm Water Institute's web site at http://www.siwi.org.
