The Specter of Water Piracy: The World Trade Organization Threatening Water Security in Developing Nations

摘要

Water is simultaneously the most ubiquitous resource on earth yet also its most precious. Without water, all life perishes astonishingly quickly. Despite this dependency, most people in the first world simply take it for granted that they will have sufficient potable, sanitary water for all of their basic needs. It is not so on all parts of the globe. In countries like Israel, for example, human consumption has already begun to outstrip available fresh water resources. However, where there is human need, there will always be profits to be made. While oil may have dominated the past century, the coming century will be about the struggle for water. Already enterprising governments and individuals have begun transporting fresh water in bulk quantities. This essay will examine the consequences on local communities of possible fresh water bulk transfers, and more importantly how the World Trade Organization's laws will interact with the nascent industry. Indeed, the danger is both real and substantial that the World Trade Organization's extra-territorial laws will serve to prohibit any attempts to restrain trade in bulk water once it begins. Countries may be locked into destructive paths by forces outside of their control. This essay will examine just what might happen if these fears become a reality.