Picture Credit: iatp.org

Civil society groups are bothered by their limited level of access and participation during discussions concerning the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Created in 2010 under the UNFCCC framework, the GCF has received pledges of $30 billion from developed countries that will be used for aiding developing countries in their adaptation and mitigation efforts against climate change. However, just $7 billion have been contributed to date, partly because of the current economic situation, and discussions are now centered on the potential role of the private sector in donor contributions. Several fear that limiting the role of civil society groups in discussions surrounding matters with a large impact on communities will significantly impact the success of the GCF. Janet Redman from the Institute for Policy Studies suggests that when considering private sector financing it is important to source from local companies that will help build the economy rather than multinationals looking to profit from vulnerable populations. However, the difficulty in channeling private financing to those most in need is a strong case for public funding for the GCF.

Picture Credit: flickr.com/nico.herzog

A new European Directive is threatening to privatize Europe’s municipal water services by requiring even those municipalities with minimal use of the private sector to offer their contract to EU-wide bidding. This would allow large multinationals like Suez and Veolia to expand their operations. In addition, Troika resolutions on the financial crises in Greece and Portugal have resulted in several public water utilities being put on the market for privatization. Although the European Commission sees privatization as the way forward, the directive has faced much opposition from the public and civil society groups that want water services to be exempted from it. Recently, approximately 1.3 million Europeans petitioned to recognize water as a human right. Privatization would likely contradict this with putting profits back in the hands of companies that own and run water systems, rather than improving services for the people.