Suchergebnisse

Conflicts between water users are increasing, making evident the lack of a judicious, balanced and transparent procedure for water allocation. This is particularly apparent in regions where demand comes from users with a wide range of needs and different levels of power, and where human appropriation of water is reaching unsustainable levels. Allocation mechanisms with varying degrees of governmental intervention exist in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and they reflect the priorities that these societies give to relevant normative principles governing water: equity, efficiency and sustainability. Water laws in these three countries indicate that 1) while efficiency has become the bastion of neo-liberalisation, equity and sustainability principles are either neglected or become subsidiary, 2) implicit definitions of equity fall short in promoting the interests of the disadvantaged, and 3) the complex definition, measurement and monitoring of what constitutes a sustainable scale of human water use, make it an impractical goal. Achieving a balance between equity, efficiency and sustainability appears unrealistic, suggesting the need to remove efficiency as a principle in water allocation and make it an important but subsidiary tool to equity and sustainability.

Los servicios de agua en las zonas rurales y peri-urbanas de los Andes son predominantemente prestados por organizaciones comunitarias o pequeñas empresas prestadoras. La vulnerabilidad de este tipo de proveedores de agua frente a su capacidad de adaptarse a situaciones adversas producidas por la variabilidad y el cambio climáticos, tiene que ver tanto con su dependencia de la capacidad reguladora de los ecosistemas, como con las condiciones institucionales internas y del entorno. En el marco de un proyecto de Investigación-Acción Participativa (IAP), y con base en una encuesta a las organizaciones miembros de dos asociaciones de acueductos comunitarios y un análisis detallado de ocho casos y de los datos disponibles en el Sistema Único de Información (SUI) rural, se analizaron las vulnerabilidades de las organizaciones comunitarias prestadoras de servicios de agua en zonas rurales y peri-urbanas del sur occidente de Colombia. Se clasificaron las vulnerabilidades en: biofísicas en las fuentes, técnicas, institucionales y del modelo organizacional; y se encontró que las vulnerabilidades institucionales y del modelo organizacional son de igual o más importancia que las vulnerabilidades técnicas y biofísicas.

In 2004 a social movement for environmental democratisation began in Colombia in response to the exponential expansion of extractive activities and socio-environmental conflicts driven by policies designed to transform
Colombia into a mining country. The state's reaction to this mobilisation has been ambiguous, as it depends on the rents of extractive frontiers but is
also the guarantor of the Constitution and of the rights of its citizens. Colombia is entering a new era in 2016 by signing a peace agreement with the FARC rebel movement. After 50 years of violence and millions of people killed or displaced, this is an opportunity to end today's "longest civil war" worldwide. However, the need to generate revenue to fund the post-war reparation, restitution, and reintegration programmes and, more generally, to fulfil the demands
of global markets for minerals, energy, food, and materials puts great pressure on the rural areas where the v iolent conflict has concentrated. The presence of extractive industries in rural areas of peasant economies and
ethnic territories has exacerbated previously existing territorial conflicts largely driven by land use. Colombia reports the second-largest number of socio-environmental conflicts in the global Environmental Justice Atlas, and it ranks second in Latin America and third worldwide in the number of assassinations
of environmental and land activists. The activation of several democratic-participation mechanisms incorporated
into the Colombian Constitution of 1991 for environmental issues demonstrates the aspiration of marginalised groups to participate in the decision-making process regarding territorial planning, the use of resources, and the economic model, which all greatly influence socio-environmental conditions. Policy Implications: Encouraging environmental democratisation is indispensable for achieving environmental justice and a transition to peace in Colombia. The international
community could support this process by promoting higher standards, accountability,
and participation in environmental decision making; by bolstering the
Colombian state in its effort to redesign its revenue system from extractive industries to discourage highly destructive activities; and by promoting the smallscale, sustainable, rural economies that are at the core of the peace agreement.