agentes económicos de la financierización del agua

The report by Friends of the Earth International analyzes how water is being transformed from a common good into a financial asset through corporate capture, international trade agreements, and extractive projects. It provides case studies from various regions—including Palestine, Australia, Sri Lanka, the US, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, Switzerland, England, Mozambique, Mexico, and El Salvador—to illustrate the social and environmental impacts of this trend. The document concludes that the 'financialization' of water allows transnational agents to speculate on natural resources, often with the complicity of states, and advocates for the recognition of water as a common good managed through community-led and public systems.

• Financialization of water involves segregating natural elements to create new property titles and 'natural capital' that can be traded in financial markets, decoupling water from land ownership and collective territorial rights.
• In Palestine, Israel exercises systemic control over water resources, resulting in a structural shortage where Palestinians are permitted to use only 250 MMC/year of the estimated 722 MMC of renewable groundwater.
• Australia's Murray-Darling Basin has seen the commodification of water through a market that separates water rights from land titles, leading to a system where the environment is treated as a competitive 'actor' that must compete for water.
• US-led trade agreements like the TPP and TTIP are viewed as threats to the human right to water because they may limit the ability of governments to regulate groundwater extraction or maintain water in the public domain.
• In Colombia, the 'public-community' management model, practiced by approximately 12,000 small providers, is proposed as an alternative to the privatization and debt-driven models promoted by multilateral banks.
• Uruguay successfully enshrined the human right to water in its Constitution in 2004, though the document notes that the expansion of soy and forestry agribusinesses now threatens water quality and quantity.
• In Switzerland, the pursuit of hydroelectric energy, supported by a fund of approximately $270 million annually, has led to the degradation of river ecosystems and a loss of biodiversity.
• The UK's high water footprint is significantly driven by meat consumption; producing 1 kg of intensively raised beef requires 15,000 liters of water, which is ten times more than for cereals.
• In Mozambique, the planned Mphanda Nkuwa dam, costing approximately $2.3 billion, is criticized for lacking democratic planning and primarily serving energy exports to South Africa's Eskom.
• In El Salvador, the water market for bottled water reached an annual turnover of $43.5 million in 2005, while the state water administrator (ANDA) only covers about 30% of rural areas.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (2013). agentes económicos de la financierización del agua. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Libro-Agua-ATI-español-web.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. agentes económicos de la financierización del agua. 2013. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Libro-Agua-ATI-español-web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=agentes económicos de la financierización del agua |date=November 2013 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Libro-Agua-ATI-español-web.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternational2013agentes, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{agentes económicos de la financierización del agua}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2013}, month = nov, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Libro-Agua-ATI-español-web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }