2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

PART 4: APPENDIX 3: THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Source Year Total Water Sanitation
Global Water Partnership 2000 30.0 13.0 17.0
Vision 21, WSSCC 2000 8.9 5.2 3.7
WHO/UNICEF 2000 N/A 3.1 12.6
World Bank 2002 29.0 13.0 16.0
Camdessus Report [1] 2003 40.0 23.0 17.0
Smets [2] 2003 32.0 N/A N/A
Evans & Hutton 2004 13.7 2.1 11.6
UN MDG Task Force 2004 6.7 4.5 2.2
Notes
[1] US$32 billion more for full WATSAN
[2] US$20 billion for new facilities, 12 for rehabilitation
The variable nature of these forecasts is a real cause for concern and more serious analysis of
these costs, rather than extrapolations of other people’s figures are badly needed. The
expression ‘back of envelope calculation’ was invoked in one review of these figures and it is
not an unfair one. This is also reflected in expectations about the cost of providing new
sanitation and sewage treatment services.
To halve the proportion of people without a safe water supply by 2015, an estimated US$2
billion to US$23 billion per year would be required, depending on the approach taken in each
particular case. Based on the provision of basic sanitation for the poor, US$2 billion to US$17
billion would be needed per year. The sheer range of these estimates suggests that they are not
estimating the same outcomes. Currently total overseas development assistance (ODA), runs at
US$53 billion a year. The question here is: how much ODA will ever be directed at
‘unglamorous’ sectors such as water and sewerage?
2003: Kyoto’s road to nowhere?
There were 406 sessions at the World Water Forum in 2003. Of these, 12 sessions covered
finance, along with 15 on the private sector and six sessions devoted to opposing private
finance. There was one session on industry and water. It was no great surprise to find that no
regional or national targets for water and sanitation coverage were considered.
This sums up the piecemeal nature of 2003. In June 2003, the European Parliament is seeking
to create a European Water Fund of €1 billion from both public and private sources to fund
water supply and purification in developing countries. Paul Lannoye MEP, the European
Parliament’s Rapporteur on water management saw the proposed sum as inadequate and
suggested that a tax of €0.005 on every bottle of mineral water sold in Europe.
In May 2003, The Group of Eight’s (G8) “Water Action Plan" called for efforts to secure more
safe drinking water but declined to provide funds. The G8's offered to support countries that
prioritised safe drinking water. The G8 added they would promote public-private partnerships
(PPPs), where appropriate. There has been no official development of this plan since this date.
What aid there is does not to appear to be going where it is needed most. A survey carried out
for the OECD in 2002 (OECD (2003) Aid activities in the water sector 1997-2002, OECD Paris,
France) found that 12% of all aid going to the water sector that year went to countries where
less than 60% of the population had access to safe water. Annual aid going into water is some
US$3 billion, with another US$1.5 billion in loans. The largest donor is Japan, which gives 33%
of total water aid and has an extended loan programme to complement the funding.
2004-05: Meeting these goals – already a cause for concern
In 2004, the first surveys commissioned by the UN towards these goals were published and
they indicate that there is already slippage from the intended targets. This is especially
noticeable in Africa and South Asia.
391 Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005-2006