wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: James Bond, water and the churches

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World Council of Churches - Feature

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>For immediate release - 11/11/2008 16:33:51

SECURING WATER FOR ALL: A JOB FOR HEROES WITH A LICENCE TO
PRAY?

World cinema's most famous spy is back and this time he fights a
villain trying to control strategic water resources in a
developing country. Is the script of the latest James Bond movie
too far fetched a fictional plot? "Control over water translates
more and more into profit and power," says Maike Gorsboth, the
coordinator of the Ecumenical Water Network, an initiative of
churches, Christian organizations and movements working on
people's access to water and on community-based solutions to the
water crisis. In the following interview, Gorsboth speaks to
Annegret Kapp about water as a human right – and about how cinema
and reality may have more in common than we think.

In the latest James Bond movie, which hit the screens in Europe
last week, the villain is seeking to control the "earth's most
precious resource" in a developing country. How realistic is the
idea of a mafia gaining control over a country's water supply?

Already today we are witnessing struggles over the control of
water supply and resources. With water scarcity increasing and
demand for water rising steadily in many countries around the
world, control over water translates more and more into profit
and power. Companies are buying water rights and land in order to
secure their access to water resources. Often they do not care
much about the rights of communities or environmental
consequences and deplete and pollute this precious resource.

So, in a way the idea of the movie is not as far fetched as one
might wish. However, one of the problems is exactly that, while
corruption does play a major role in the water sector, what is
happening is often not illegal. Legal provisions ensuring public
control and regulating private ownership and use of water
resources are in too many cases lacking or insufficient.

If water should become more precious than oil in the future, it
may be a concern for secret services. But why is "water for all"
something the churches should worry about? 

Without adequate access to water, human dignity is harmed and
development impossible. And those who suffer most from missing
and unequal access to clean water are the poorest. Now, this is
not simply an inevitable result of physical water scarcity. This
is about political, social, and economic factors determining who
gets water and who does not. That makes it an ethical concern, a
matter of justice.

James Bond, of course, tackles the problem gun in hand. What
kind of action do churches take?

In the movie the villain almost succeeds because he is working
in secret and because he uses other people's greed and
corruption. Churches around the world are raising awareness and
are educating people about what is happening, warn of the danger
of privatizing the very source of life. They speak up for the
poor and most vulnerable and thus help them to defend their right
to water against more powerful interests. And they counter the
tendency to reduce water to an economic commodity by reminding
people and authorities alike of the social and spiritual value of
water.

>[511 words]

More information on the Ecumenical Water Network:
http://water.oikoumene.org

Feature articles: 

In the shadow of the dam, communities long for water
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1722/in-the-shadow-of-the-dam.html

Pay up at the tap: Pre-paid water meters put the poor at risk
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1722/pay-up-at-the-tap-pre-pa.html
Water for all: young Christians study defence of this precious
resource
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1722/water-for-all-young-chr.html
Darfur crisis sparked off over water; smaller water conflicts
also lethal says water conference
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/browse/31/article/1722/darfur-crisis-sparked-off.html
(
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/browse/31/article/1722/darfur-crisis-sparked-off.html
)

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect
WCC policy. This material may be reprinted freely, providing
credit is given to the author. 

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363 media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical
fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings
together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches
representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic
Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from
the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.