Privatisation and the nature of the state is moving to the centre of the struggle against austerity in Greece. The troika of the three key lenders to Greece – the European Commission, IMF and European Central Bank – is trying to speed up the sell-off of the country’s public goods   Read More ...

Severn Trent is the latest water company to be targeted for takeover by a motley group of investment funds. An analysis of their past deals reveals huge profits, meagre tax bills and a seemingly casual approach to ethical concerns. Once again public assets are turned into wealth for the few.   Read More ...

This report by the New Policy Institute analyzes what has happened to the water industry in the UK since it was privatised by Thatcher in the late 80s. In a nutshell: very high profits fuelled by debt creation and low investments, and bad performance. The initial local then international corporations   Read More ...

More than 100 environmental, social and indigenous organizations protested Monday in the Chilean capital to demand that the state regain control over the management of water, which was privatized by the dictatorship in 1981. According to the organizers, one of whom was former student leader Camila Vallejo, who plans to   Read More ...

The water markets of Marathwada are booming. In the town of Jalna alone, tanker owners transact between Rs.6 million and Rs.7.5 million in water sales each day. Thirst is Marathwada’s greatest crop this season. Forget sugarcane. Thirst, human and industrial, eclipses anything else. Those harvesting it reap tens of millions   Read More ...

A test case for democracy in Europe. The European Commission has in recent weeks gone on a PR offensive in response to growing criticism of its pro-privatisation agenda for the water sector. The criticism centres around the water privatisation conditions attached to the Troika’s rescue packages for Greece and Portugal,   Read More ...

Les tyrans ont toujours quelque ombre de vertu Ils soutiennent les lois avant de les abattre. Voltaire (Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them.) Frenchmen, our brothers! On the 19th of February, your President, François Hollande, visited the capital of our country,   Read More ...

An inspiring video animation about how cities are reversing water privatisation to regain public control. This video explores water ‘remunicipalisation’ in Buenos Aires and Paris, looking at the challenges and benefits of reclaiming public water. It calls on citizens worldwide to mobilize around this option.