Water not on the table at Copenhagen

The issue of water is notably absent from the list of topics (which include CO2, technological innovation, and green energy) on the agenda for the international conference on climate change to be held in Copenhagen next December. As Ricardo Petrella, President of the European Institute for Research on Water Policy, points out in Libération, it is an oversight that fails to take into account the fact that water is one of the resources most threatened by climate change. According to studies conducted by the IPCC (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), in 2050, 60% of the world's population may be forced to cope with severe water shortages. In the face of dwindling supplies, water may become a new "blue gold," which could be one of the main causes of war in the 21st century. As Riccardo Petrella puts it, the main problem for developed countries is that "the issue of post-oil energy is now hogging the agenda for negotiations on climate change."