Discussion on the International Year of Freshwater and the World Water Forum February 2003

Discussion on the International Year of Freshwater and the World Water Forum February 2003

The year 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Freshwater, and the 3rd World Water Forum was held in Kyoto, Osaka, and Shiga in March. In the post-Cold War world, population growth, urbanization, and industrial expansion have been accompanied by the advance of globalization, and the shortage of freshwater resources has emerged as an international issue. In Africa and the Middle East, the scarcity of safe drinking water was already serious, and a UN report predicted that by 2025, half of the world's population would live in areas with water shortages. Japan, too, had experienced urban concentration and water pollution during its period of rapid economic growth, and awareness of the need to secure and conserve water resources was spreading throughout society. Against this backdrop, this special issue of "Water for All" took on the aspect of a "policy dialogue" with a mixture of statements from diverse perspectives.

The article first discusses water purification and changes in the drinking water business. Since the 1980s, when the tap water market was distrusted due to the detection of strange odors and toxic substances, the mineral water market has grown rapidly, and the water purifier and home-delivery water businesses have also expanded. This reflected consumer demand for safety and "good taste," and at the same time, companies entered the drinking water business using reverse osmosis membranes and seawater desalination technology. It is as if citizens, companies, and governments were sitting around a round table discussing how to secure drinking water.

Furthermore, in the discussion of water source preservation, the decline in water retention capacity due to forest degradation was seen as a problem. In April 2003, Kochi Prefecture decided to introduce a "forest environment tax," adding a flat 500 yen to prefectural taxes to be used for forest maintenance. This movement spread to Kanagawa, Okayama, and other prefectures, and the use of the tax system to protect water sources began in earnest. Here, the interests of local governments, forestry companies, and residents were intertwined, and a social consensus was sought to protect water resources. Forest improvement and biomass use of thinned wood were presented as new policy technologies to achieve both regional circulation and water quality improvement.

From an international perspective, phenomena such as droughts, floods, and salt damage were linked to climate change and deforestation, and the global water crisis was discussed. Water pollution caused by massive consumption of water for agriculture and industrialization was accelerating the strain on freshwater resources, while large-scale cultivation of export crops and plantation development were destroying the water cycle in local communities. These are not just environmental problems, but also have the potential to cause conflicts between urban and rural areas and between countries. The article poses the heavy question, "From conflicts over oil to the era of conflicts over water.

The article also introduces Japan's accumulated technological expertise in water purification technology, biomass utilization, and environmentally friendly agriculture, and discusses the possibility of technology exports, especially to developing countries that lack water and sewage infrastructure. New attempts such as water quality improvement agents, microorganism utilization, and phytoremediation were considered for use not only in the domestic market but also in the international market. The article is structured like a conference proceedings, with the voices of various actors, including policy, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations, all lined up as if they were one on top of another.

By linking different perspectives, from drinking water projects to forest environmental taxes to international water scarcity issues, this special issue demonstrated the multifaceted nature of the "water" resource. 2003 saw Japan and the world beginning to view water not simply as a natural resource, but as an entity at the core of political, economic, and social dialogues. The realism of the discussions was truly a reproduction on paper of an international conference, and had the symbolic resonance of the International Year of Freshwater.