Jean Chretien
The Canadian Press reports, “Access to clean, potable water (is an ‘urgent security issue’ and) will become a growing source of international tension unless governments take steps to protect the world’s supply, experts are warning ahead of a water security conference in Toronto. …A panel moderated by former Prime Minister Jean Chretien and (the former chancellor of Austria, Franz Vranitzky, and the former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo) will draft recommendations to help governments counter those threats. …The panel’s findings will be presented to the InterAction Council at its annual meeting in Quebec City this May (29-31). The council includes 37 former heads of state and aims to advise current world leaders on emerging global issues.”
Some of the members of the ‘InterAction Council of Former Heads of State and Government’ include former US presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, former South African president Nelson Mandela, former British prime minister John Major, and former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt.
At the conference in Toronto this week, “Experts will look at how water affects energy, development, the environment and public health. …Other issues, such as water conservation, require long-term solutions, said Zafar Adeel (chair of UN Water), one of the experts attending the conference.”
The InterAction Council website is at http://www.interactioncouncil.org/. The Canadian Press article is at http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110321/water-supply-conference-110321/.
