Indian environmentalist Anil Agarwal, the director of the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and the Environment (CSE), has been appointed a member of the World Commission on Water , which will prepare a long-term programme to address the impending water crisis in the 21st century.
The World Water Council (WWC), which met in Stockholm this week, announced the formation of the commission.
The 21-member body comprises internationally-recognised water, environment and development experts representing academia, governments, private sector, international and national organisations, philanthropic organisations and civil society.
The report by the commission is to be completed in time for release on World Water Day -- May 22, 2000 -- in the Netherlands, the Council statement made available here said.
In preparing the long-term vision for the 21st century, the Commission will address questions such as the impact of climate change on variability of rainfall and desertification. It will prepare the most likely scenarios on population growth and spatial deployment, studying ways of reducing losses in monsoon areas and water harvesting in semi-arid and arid zones. It will also explore the possibilities of desalinisation and new underground water sources that could be tapped.
Pollution and its treatment through new technologies, such as single-cell protein technologies, the re-use of city waste water for high value agriculture and techniques to transform water efficiency in agriculture -- to get more crop per drop -- will also figure in this vision for the future.
The role of civil society -- local communities, women, the private sector and other institutional actors -- will be taken into consideration by the Commission.
Its brief said all the observations and suggestions must be related to real action on the ground for the "vision" to become a reality.
The scope of experience and positions represented on the Commission would help raise awareness about the issues and promote action in concert with local communities, governments and international bodies around the world.
The commission's Secretariat will be located at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris and will be co-sponsored by the World Bank, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Other institutions are also said to be considering support for the Commission.
