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INFORMATION REPORT
on
Decent work and sustainable development around the Mediterranean: the fresh water, sea water and sanitation sectors
WORKIN GROUP
European Economic and Social Committee – rapporteur
Economic and Social Council of Spain
Economic and Social Council of Tunisia
Economic and Social Council of Algeria
Economic and Social Council of Italy
Economic and Social Council of Greece

REX/254 - CESE 682/2009 fin IT/RL/CAT/ms.../...

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European Economic and Social Committee

REX/303
Decent work and sustainable development in the Mediterranean region

Brussels, 13October 2010

INFORMATION REPORT
of the
Section for External Relations
on
Decent work and sustainable development around the Mediterranean: the fresh water, sea water and sanitation sectors
______
Rapporteur: Ms An Le Nouail-Marlière
______

REX/303 - CESE 22/2010 fin rev. 2

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Study Group on / President: / Mr Buffetaut, Stéphane (FR-I)
Decent work and sustainable development in the Mediterranean region
Rapporteur: / Ms Le Nouail Marlière, An (FR-II)
Members: / Mr Cedrone, Carmelo (IT-II)
Ms Costa Macedo, Teresa (PT-III)
Mr Czajkowski, Tomasz (PL-III)
Mr Fornea, Dumitru (RO-II)
Ms López Almendáriz, Margarita (ES-I)
Mr Moreno Preciado, Juan (ES-II)
Mr Narro, Pedro (ES-III)
Mr Nilsson, Staffan (SE-III)
Mr Reale, Maurizio (IT-I)
Ms Zvolská, Marie (CZ-I)
Expert:
Mr Mestre, Alain
Cabinet Syndex
Paris
Contributions and participation of Euromed:
Spanish ESC
Tunisian ESC
Algerian CNES
Italian CNEL
Greek ESC

On 15 December 2009, the European Economic and Social Committee, acting under Rule 31 of its Rules of Procedure, decided to ask its Section for External Relations to draw up an information report on:

Decent work and sustainable development around the Mediterranean: the fresh water, sea water and sanitation sectors.

The preparatory work was carried out by the members and experts in collaboration with the rapporteur and the groups. The study group met on:

11 March 2010;

9 June 2010; and

7 July 2010

The Section for External Relations adopted its information report on Decent work and sustainable development around the Mediterranean: the fresh water, sea water and sanitation sectors on 3September 2010 by 36 votes to 2, with 3 abstentions.

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1.Recommendations

1.1The normalisation of the consultation of the social partners could contribute to the improvement of the implementation of the UfM's water projects. It is therefore important to promote recognition of representative, inter-vocational and sectoral organisations, social dialogue, negotiations for the implementation of an effective social protection system, an end to the use of informal work and the establishment of vocational equality between men and women, inter alia, in the new technical vocations linked to environmental protection.

1.2The conference held by the sustainable development observatory together with the EESC's Euromed Follow-up Committee in Nice in 2009, entitled "Responding to the challenge of sustainable development in the Mediterranean" noted in particular that "Climate change also imposes the need to anticipate and manage transition periods in a social, fair and equitable way through forecast management in the areas of employment, skills and vocational training, in line with ILO labour standards"[1].

1.3Drawing on the three social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainable development,it is likewise high time for the UfM's "water projects" and the future Mediterranean water strategy to incorporate matters relating to labour and decent work as part of integrated human resource management, since there are many sectors involved in terms of labour conditions, job sustainability and fiscal transparency: construction, energy, transport, environment, education, training and health.

1.4Member States should work together with the social partners, with support from the ILO, to create a database of direct and indirect jobs at all skills and qualification levels throughout the water and sanitation industry, with a view to anticipating vocational training needs in the sectors concerned, since it would not make sense for there to be a shortage of labour when the unemployment rate is so high, because this could hamper the completion and continuation of projects, even if financial issues were to be resolved.

1.5The Committee recommends facilitating professional and geographical mobility for young people; this should not, however, entail a flow of skills away from people's country of origin.It recommends that the training provided in partner countries be made use of by working to create a framework for the mutual recognition of qualifications and diplomas and that continuous training systems be consolidated or created by involving the social partners at local, regional, national, inter-professional and sectoral levels and engaging in dialogue with universities.

1.6Although it is true that the framework provided by the WTO does lend itself to facilitating technology transfer, it has to be borne in mind that such transfer, to be of any value to the countries needing it most, has to be carried out at cost price, since it is financed by the state or by loans at attractive rates. Thus it could be advised that the water issue be taken out of the GATS context, in view of its vital nature and the different way the various users view it.

1.7Against the backdrop of the world financial and economic crisis and the political crisis in the region, an integrated water resource management system should be set up for each resource pool, aimed at securing a culture based on peace, conflict settlement despite persistent differences, and resource-sharing. Steps should be taken to optimise and improve consistency of approach in the region, between the UN world programme for water supply and sanitation (UNEP), the WHO, the 2002 Johannesburg sustainable development summit and the millennium goals, by creating as much synergy as possible with the Blue Plan for the Mediterranean, the MAP (Mediterranean Action Plan) of the UN and all the Euromed initiatives under way. A degree of consistency between the policies followed by the European public institutions, the EIB, the UN bodies and international financial institutions (World Bank (WB), Global Environment Facility, the Copenhagen global green fund UNFCCC) exists and must be strengthened. To this end, the member states of the UfM should all ratify the 1997 UN Convention concerning the law relating to the uses of international watercourses for purposes other than navigation and make haste to adopt the Water Strategy for the Mediterranean (including occupied territories) which would make it possible to bring into line, on a sustainable basis, world and regional initiatives for the Mediterranean.

1.8Given the impact of climate change on developments in the water resources situation, the amount of public finance resources to be invested, the economic and social repercussions on different sectors of the population of a deterioration in the environment and in the economy, the negative impact of corruption in water-related issues on the most vulnerable sectors of the population, high population numbers in rural areas and the importance of farming activities in the Mediterranean area, the diversity of economic sectors (energy, farming, fisheries, industry, health and tourism) affected by water usage, attention should focus in the future not only on information and good practice, but also on the following three main areas: 1) regional and local aspects; 2) water supplies and sanitation; and 3) governance. In this way civil society can help secure transparency in the markets, ensuring that they operate smoothly and that projects correspond to needs assessed upstream in line with general interest criteria, involving, for example, local players such as local authorities, citizens associations, local and regional specialists and supply companies in defining needs and objectives and assessing effectiveness.

1.9Given their representativeness and the fact that they are rooted in civil society, ESCs and similar institutions make a useful contribution to these consultations and are a valuable resource.

1.10Consultation of civil society players is all the more important since the stakes are high, not only in terms of people's access to water and sanitation, but also in terms of the impact on jobs and employment conditions, as well as on qualifications, skills and development projects, where human resources management methods may determine whether or not a project is successful.

1.11In order to be fair and transparent, such consultation implies recognition of the right of association and meeting, as well as freedom of expression and information.

2.Introduction

2.1The MDG adopted in 2000 include the question of access to drinking water by particularly disadvantaged groups from different parts of the world, with the objective of reducing the number of people without access to drinking water and sanitation by half by 2015[2].

2.240% of the world's population draws its water from wells, rivers, ponds or lakes outside their settlements. Many suffer from a lack of water: 1.4 billion people, almost 20% of the planet's inhabitants, do not have access to adequate supplies of clean water. 2.6 billion still have no access to sanitation systems, which are crucial to ensuring human health.

2.3More than 30000 people from more than 150 countries attended the World Water Forum in Istanbul. The UN report "Water in a Changing World" which was prepared for this summit warns that increases in population and climate change are depleting freshwater supply at an unsustainable rate. It warns that unless such problems are addressed, they will lead to global "political insecurity and conflict at various levels" in the coming decades. Emphasising the urgency of the issue, the conference attempted to frame a shared vision of questions such as the challenges of sanitation, financial barriers and a better understanding of the complementary roles of the public and private sectors. Although the Forum eventually adopted a declaration, it was unable to reach agreement on a number of important points such as sharing of water resources, the UN report that had been prepared for the event, or recognition of the right to access to water. Some 20 countries adopted an alternative declaration, in which access to water and sanitation was recognised as a right. This shows that even though there was agreement on the urgency of the situation, there was none on how to put it right.

2.4Some experts and NGOs felt that the water crisis was in fact a crisis of water governance, and that corruption in the water sector would allow the more powerful to evade the rules to preserve habitats and ecosystems, to waste and pollute the water on which entire regions depend, to siphon off the money intended to supply water to the poorest, to prevent small farmers from having access to the water they need to irrigate their crops, and to ignore the patiently-crafted agreements for cross-border water sharing, to allow the poorest and leastinformed populations to carry out activities that harm the environment and damage their own means of subsistence, with lasting consequences for the environment, social cohesion and political stability.

2.5The final declaration of the Alexandria Euromed Summit of ESCs and Similar Institutions of 18 and 19 October 2009, drew attention to the need to address issues relating to environmental and energy challenges linked to water scarcity and increased desertification, employment, employee representation and vocational training in the Mediterranean countries.

2.6The EESC's Euromed Follow-up Committee - convened under the mandate which was given by the Barcelona Declaration of 1995 and continued in the framework of the UfM - was instructed in 2010 to monitor developments in decent work and sustainable development around the Mediterranean, especially in the fresh water, sea water and sanitation sectors[3].

2.7The Euromed ESCs and similar institutions have included this topic on the agenda for their 2010 summit, with a view to drawing up an information report and helping to formulate civil society proposals for better governance, which is a precondition for better sharing and conservation of water resources.

3.Climate change and the Mediterranean water strategy in the framework of the UfM

3.1Water scarcity is a subject with special relevance for the Mediterranean region. Some 450million people live in Mediterranean coastal countries: 170 million on its Southern shore, 120 million on the Eastern shore, and 160 million on the Northern shore[4]. The Southern rim receives only 10% of total precipitation of the whole Mediterranean region.

3.2The 2007 IPCC report[5] warned that the Mediterranean is one of the world's regions in which the environment and human activities will be most affected by global warming, with a rise in temperature of 3 to 4 degrees C, a decrease in rainfall and more extreme weather events by 2100.

3.3Various models concur on a clear increase in the risk of drought and length of rain-free periods. The countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean in particular must deal with serious water shortages and uneven distribution of this vital resource. The blue plan indicates that around the Mediterranean, 20 million people do not have access to drinking water. Partly, this is due to environmental factors but socio-economic, technical and other "human" factors also play a role. This is especially worrying as regards the stability of the region: conflict prevention has to include a more equal distribution of water and water rights.

3.4Waste of water is a major problem. It is estimated that nearly 40% of total water demand represents water not used, but lost. Total water demand is moreover projected to increase by 18% by 2025. Agriculture accounts for 64% of total water demand in the region (70%worldwide). Policies focused on extending supply pose severe risks in the long term: rapid depletion of non-renewable groundwater, seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers, deterioration in water quality, reduced flows and drying up of wetlands. The Blue Plan shows another way: the possibility to reduce total water demand by 25% by reducing water spills and wasteful use of water in agriculture and industry.

3.5At the Conference on Responding to the challenges of sustainable development, held by the EESC in Nice in April 2009, case studies were presented that showed how different regions are organising their water management. It emerged in particular from the conference that "Sustainable development issues are a cause for common concern throughout the Mediterranean and, as a consequence, the need to engage in common projects has now become a bridge and a link uniting all Mediterranean nations. The role played by the Mediterranean Sea, which unites its coastal regions, and by water in general with respect to the quality of life in its surrounding countries provides a special dimension, which has to be taken into immediate consideration when mobilising the resources required for their conservation"[6].

3.6Sea-water desalination technology has developed considerably in recent years in both the arid countries of the Middle East and temperate European countries. Given the unreliability and rising cost of conventional water supplies, technological improvements have made desalinated water more accessible, although the potentially negative environmental effects of uncontrolled deployment of this method have not so far been sufficiently considered. A new artificial water cycle (desalination, reprocessing, etc.) has helped mitigate the growing scarcity of this natural resource but does not obviate the need to manage, as of now, the environmental consequences, namely saturation, pollution, choice of type of farming, industrial choices, technological choices in energy production, etc.

3.7Several political initiatives connected with the Mediterranean, are under way: UNEP, the European Union, the Paris summit for the Mediterranean, and the Euromed ministerial conference on water held in Jordan in 2008 with the aim of establishing a water strategy for the Mediterranean, preserving and diversifying supplies and using water rationally and sustainably.

  • Under the European Water Directive of 23 October 2000 adopted by the Council and the European Parliament, the EU is responsible for organising the management of internal surface, ground, transitional and coastal waters, to prevent and reduce pollution, promote sustainable use, protect their environment, improve the condition of water-based ecosystems and mitigate the effects of floods and droughts. This directive requires coordinated management of shared resources. With the Mediterranean being a shared heritage, it is particularly important to involve the stakeholders of the partner countries when consulting water stakeholders and the public and when drawing up the management plan imposed on European stakeholders by this directive.
  • The Blue Plan was launched in 1974 on the initiative of the UNEP and the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP).
  • Local public authorities gathered at the 5th World Water Forum held in Istanbul, leading to the Istanbul Water Pact, which aims to develop water management strategies more closely in step with global climate and social changes.
  • The Mediterranean component of the European Water Initiative for the Mediterranean brings together a community of experts from countries participating in the initiative to discuss water and sanitation issuesand is based on a joint approach with a view to strengthening coordination in the sector, improving development aid and exchanging know-how on the development of better policies and financing strategies. It seeks to establish harmonised information systems to consolidate the information required for integrated and global management.

3.8The starting point of the Mediterranean water strategy is the fact that 180 million people are living in water-scarce areas with less than 1000m3 of potential resources per inhabitant per year; this figure could reach 244 million by 2025. 59 million people are living in water-scarce areas with less than 500m3 of resources per inhabitant per year, and 20 million do not have access to a reliable supply of drinking water. The scarcity of water in the Mediterranean region, particularly in southern Europe on the Mediterranean's southern and eastern shores, and the region's vulnerability to the effects of climate change (sharp drop in rainfall and a marked increase in the region's air temperature) are already affecting the availability of water resources there, with an increase in periods of drought, but also (it should be pointed out) flooding due to torrential, sudden and violent rainfall. The consequences of this are the erosion of increasingly less fertile soil and ensuing desertification. These disturbances, which affect heritage and populations, thus translate into economic and social losses.