Nestlé's Chairman of the Board, Peter Brabeck, doesn't think that water is a human right. Tell him it is! |
Since that quote has gotten widespread attention, Brabeck has backtracked, but his company has not. Around the world, Nestlé is bullying communities into giving up control of their water. It's time we took a stand for public water sources.
Tell Nestlé that we have a right to water. Stop locking up our resources!
At the World Water Forum in 2000, Nestlé successfully lobbied to stop water from being declared a universal right -- declaring open hunting season on our local water resources by the multinational corporations looking to control them. For Nestlé, this means billions of dollars in profits. For us, it means paying up to 2,000 times more for drinking water because it comes from a plastic bottle.
Now, in countries around the world, Nestlé is promoting bottled water as a status symbol. As it pumps out fresh water at high volume, water tables lower and local wells become degraded. Safe water becomes a privilege only affordable for the wealthy.
In our story, clean water is a resource that should be available to all. It should be something we look after for the public good, to keep safe for generations, not something we pump out by billions of gallons to fuel short-term private profits. Nestlé thinks our opinion is "extreme", but we have to make a stand for public resources. Please join us today in telling Nestlé that it's not "extreme" to treat water like a public right.
Tell Nestlé to start treating water like a public right, not a source for private profits!
Sources and further reading:
Nestlé: The Global Search for Liquid Gold, Urban Times, June 11th, 2013
Bottled Water Costs 2000 Times As Much As Tap Water, Business Insider, July 12th, 2013
Peter Brabeck discussion his philosophy about water rights
Around the world, Nestlé is bullying communities into giving up control of their water. (They convinced Phoenix to give them our CAP water during a drought!) It's time we took a stand for public water sources.
ReplyDeleteTrump's administration is working towards privatizing our water too. After extracting all the fossil fuels depletes and poisons our water, there will be great profit made with the remaining water. Imagine how Trump's "profit without responsibility" policies (or regulations) will affect the quality of our water.