The Global South

The Global South includes all lower income countries that have less strict organizations and governments. It is the global south who is more likely to be negatively impacted politically, economically and medically by multinational corporations. The Global North includes more developed countries that have greater economic resources along with strong governments. Environmentalism in both of these areas is drastically different. Environmental issues that occur in the Global South are extremely different compared to the Global North due to the lack of social justice displayed in the south.

The water war in Bolivia is outrageous. The pure fact that something seen as a creation by God is being privatized. The fact that citizens in Bolivia already did not have adequate supply to drinking water is an issue and then to make the economically strained country pay for it is unjust. Rainwater to be privatized is not only unreasonable it is also politically strained. Luckily, the resistance of the Bolivian people stopped the privatization of the water.

The three main companies that control water include Thames, Suez and Vivendi. Due to the growing amount of privatized water by these companies, water disputes like the one displayed in Bolivia will continue to grow. In many cases these developing countries do not want to privatize their water however institutions like the World Bank or International Monetary Fund use structural adjustment programs to ensure they do. Many other countries in Africa have worse water issues compared to Bolivia. As these companies continue to privatize water, these issues will continue to grow. Since water is needed by all, one would think that it would not be able to be privatized. The future of our water systems is unclear along with our future water supply; the world globally must make changes to ensure adequate water in the future.