[FILM] BLUE GOLD: World Water Wars
[ SOCIAL AND PASTORAL BULLETIN No. 154 / Apr. 15,2010 ]

Although "globalization" is one of the Jesuit priority options, its meaning is not yet clearly grasped. One may say that globalization refers to the flow of people, goods, money and information across all borders, with both good and bad results. What motivates Jesuits to give preference to "globalization" is not only its economic and political importance, but also the fact that it greatly affects the lives of poor people all over the world and gives rise to marginalization everywhere.

If this isn't clear enough, "water" can serve as a concrete instance for grasping what globalization is all about. Water, is a natural resource that is borderless, but the commercialization of water brings it about that poor people in third world countries are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain water. This is one bad effect of globalization. In Japan, where water is so abundant, people may find this hard to believe. The film "Blue Gold" provides a thorough answer to this issue.

This documentary film, produced in the United States, is based on the book Water, the War of the Century, written by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke and translated into Japanese by Suzuki Chikara. It was published by Shueisha Shinsho. In addition to the authors themselves, a number of scholars and activists, like Vandana Shiva, an Indian physicist and ecology activist, and Oscar Olivera, a Bolivian worker leader of the movement "Water War of Cochabamba," also appear in the film and express their ideas about the geopolitics and power game concerning water resources.

"Blue Gold" designates water. Water, no less than gold, has become a symbol of affluence. One of the characters in the film asserts that calling oil "black gold," typical of an earlier age, has given way to calling water "blue gold." Oil was the most important natural resource in the 20th century and provoked many armed conflicts, while water will likely become the key natural resource during the present century.

Let's take as an example the mineral water sold in plastic bottles. Visitors to third world countries where the water supply is deficient can appreciate the fact that mineral water is more expensive than Coca-Cola or even beer in some places. The water supply, not only in developing countries, but also in industrial ones, is gradually becoming privatized and this inevitably raises its price. Moreover, in countries where desertification has advanced, it is extremely expensive to build industrial plants for converting sea water into fresh water. Thus, water has become a very lucrative commercial product.

The commercialization of water is a dramatic blow to the poor. In an African country where the water supply was privatized, the price of water became so expensive that people could not afford it. When a fire breaks out, there is no water available to extinguish it, and children are sometimes burned alive. Again, when multinationals got contracts for water supplies in Bolivia by bribing the President of the Republic, the price of water soared. People rioted violently and clashed with the military. The toll was high, but in the end they were finally able to get rid of the invading companies.

This is not without relevance for us in Japan. We use mineral water as a matter of course, but Japan also imports great quantities of "virtual water." This means that, by importing agricultural products that require great amounts of water to produce, we deprive foreign countries of their virtual water. In order to produce goods to export, developing countries have to extract large quantities of underground water and this leads to desiccation of the land. In this way we rob them of their water.

The earth is considered a "Watery Planet," but only 0.8% of its water is fresh water available for use. Meanwhile, water pollution has become a serious problem and climate change has increased desertification as well. Thus, if we want to ensure the continuation of life on earth during the 21st century, we must stop this global commercialization of water. As the authors of the book on which the film is based say, "Access to water is a human right."