IPS reports today that, "Rarely a week goes by without a problem of water scarcity hitting the headlines. The acute droughts in Kenya, Argentina and the U.S. state of California are among the latest phenomena to illustrate that the global environment has been dangerously degraded."

WATER BANKRUPTCY
"Participants in the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, heard that the planet could be destined towards 'water bankruptcy'."

WATER IN THE NEXT KYOTO ACCORD?
"It might surprise many to learn, then, that water issues are not directly included in the Kyoto protocol, the main international agreement on tackling climate change. Ensuring that this omission is not replicated in a follow-up accord scheduled to be finalised at talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, near the end of 2009, was one of the main topics addressed at a conference in Brussels Feb. 12 and 13."

The Globe and Mail has reported that, "Stephen Harper's Conservative government has called for a joint Canada-U.S. pact on greenhouse-gas emissions and energy security, in part to ensure that the oil sands are not hit by punishing U.S. regulations under Mr. Obama's environment-conscious administration."

THE HARPER PLAN
Yesterday Environment Minister Jim Prentice spoke of this plan to the House of Commons environment committee.

CBC reports that, "That plan would impose regulations — caps — on industries in selected sectors, forcing them to reduce their emissions intensity. If their emissions were over the target, they could buy domestic offsets or credits from other companies whose emissions were below target."

The Globe has reported that, "Mr. Prentice insisted that he's not trying to carve out an exemption for the oil sands. But he said he wants Canada's oil industry to get the same kind of credit for efforts to make the transition to less-polluting production that the U.S. will have to give to its coal-burning power plants."