Marie Ottosson, Minister of the Embassy of Sweden in Hanoi, writes to Tuoi Tre on the occasion of World Water Week in Stockholm from September 5-11:
The 2010 World Water Week Stockholm will be convened on September 5-11. This annual event, once again, will be the focus of the global water and development community as leaders and experts from all corners of the world come and discuss Water Quality Challenge – Prevention, wise Use and Abatement. The intention is to deepen the understanding of, stimulate ideas on, and engage the water community around the challenges related to water quality.
In addition to mark its 20th anniversary, the 2010 World Water Week includes an expansive program, which recognizes that the challenges faced by the world when it comes to water are considerable, complex and connected. Nations from all over the world must find the means to develop their economies, converse water resources, feed growing populations, protect ecosystem, mitigate and adapt climate change and provide access to clean water and sanitation to all people.
To date, urbanization, agriculture, industry and climate change exert mounting pressure on both the quantity and quality of our water resources. Virtually every corner of the world is exposed to the water pollution challenge. Although improvements have been made in some regions, water pollution is on the rise globally.
Every day, an estimated two million tons of human waste are disposed of in watercourses. Seventy percent of industrial wastes in developing countries are dumped untreated into waters where they pollute the usable water supply. The complexity of the challenge is revealed by the many different forms that pollution can take, the range of pollution sources, and the varying scales - local, regional or global - at which pollution can develop.
The 2010 World Water Week will provide the arena to share lessons learned from around the world on approaches, mechanism, technologies and financial solutions that can be applied in different regional contexts.
In Vietnam, the government with huge supports and assistance from the international development partners, including Sweden has invested a lot in improving the living conditions of the Vietnamese people. Vietnam has achieved some initial progress in reaching the Millennium Development Goals. However, poverty remains a problem. There appears a gap between the Haves and the Have nots. The poor, especially those living in rural and remote areas still cannot have full access to clean water, electricity, education, health care and others.
I personally have had many opportunities to travel to many localities in Vietnam and witnessed with my own eyes how hard the life in rural areas is. The shortage of clean water directly affects the people’s health. The situation becomes worst as water pollution can be heard and reported from different parts of the country. When I traveled along the Mekong River, I noticed that people living along the river sides discharged waste directly into the water which later they used as drinking water. Vietnam needs to further raise the population awareness of protecting and using wisely its water sources. No fresh water security can be ensured without major shift in thinking and poverty reduction and water management are closely linked.
In its process of industrialization and modernization, Vietnam also has to cope with such problems as environmental pollution. The Vedan pollution case is a prominent example. The Taiwan’s monosodium glutamate producer, Vedan Vietnam for more than a decade has discharged thousands of cubic meters of untreated toxic wastewater into the Thi Vai River, Dong Nai Province beyond the knowledge of the local authorities as well as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
I read newspapers of Vietnam and learnt that the company is paying compensation for people living and earning for their living along the river. That is good but not enough. The important step is to make sure that the company has invested or is investing in a new green technology for wastewater treatment. This rule must be applied for any industrial factories. In addition to that a mechanism must be in place in order to ensure the enforcement of the Law on Environment. Access to information is also important. The people are entitled to know if a factory in their location has environmental friendly technology. The media must play an important role in scrutinizing and detecting any violation of the Law on Environment.
I currently live in Hanoi together with my family and we are now joining efforts with other staff at the Embassy of Sweden in Hanoi to keep our embassy green. One of the rules of Green Embassy is to use our water in a wise manner in order to save the water sources from wastage and pollution. I believe that small actions from each individual will count.
There are various ways to prevent and mitigate water pollution that Vietnam can apply. The "Polluter Pays Principle" asks the sender to pay for the pollution mitigation, thereby transferring the costs to those that are responsible, and in turn stimulating new innovative solutions. Another method is "Name and Shame", where those that are found to be polluting water systems are publicly singled out, with the aim to deter future recurrences. Lessons learnt from the World Water Week are definitely useful to Vietnam too.
Let’s work together for our children and our earth.
