Water activists tell Nestle to take a hike

Council of Canadians Anil Naidoo recently returned from Stockholm, Sweden, where he worked with activists from around the world to protest the influence of private water companies over the city’s annual World Water Week. For the last 17 years, the event has provided water researchers and policy-makers with a forum for dialogue and debate. But according to Naidoo, “World Water Week is losing legitimacy as an open space for debate and discussion as the corporate water takers have the forum in their sights.”

This year, bottled water giant Nestle was the Forum’s main sponsor. Naidoo and others participated in large-scale demonstrations telling Nestle and others to keep their hands off of the world’s water. In his blog from Stockholm, Naidoo reflects on the global water movement’s many victories at World Water Week, writing, “During the week we shook up the otherwise staid world of the global water mafia. We won over many conference members with well-reasoned arguments, materials and even some direct action.”