EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: 1 JANUARY 1999 AT 06:00:00 ET USContact: Charmayne Marsh
y_marsh@acs.org
202-872-4445
American Chemical SocietyWar Over Water Predicted By United Nations Environment Official
A future war over water is a distinct possibility, according to Klaus Toepfer, director-general of the United Nations Environment Programme. Toepfer made his prediction during an interview that appears in the Jan. 1 issue of the scientific journal Environmental Science & Technology. The journal is published by the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
Echoing a view he says is shared by former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali, Toepfer is "completely convinced" there will be a conflict over natural resources, particularly water. "Everybody knows that we have an increase in population, but we do not have a corresponding increase in drinking water, so the result in the regional dimension is conflict," he says.
In the interview, Toepfer advocates monitoring worldwide reserves of drinking water and establishing cooperative agreements for the use of bodies of water, including groundwater. He also calls for "economic instruments to stimulate use of new technologies" to promote water conservation. Predicting dramatic global population growth in the future, Toepfer cites the need for an "efficiency revolution." Any solution for addressing this growth must be linked with "new technologies that concentrate more on efficient use of limited natural resources," he says. These technologies must be available, he insists, "on preferential terms, to developing countries."
Calling the export of hazardous waste to developing countries "neocolonial," Toepfer says in addition to banning this practice, cooperation is needed from the chemical industry to adopt production methods that will avoid waste generation.
Toepfer, who assumed his current position with the U.N. in February 1998, is a former minister of the environment for Germany.
### A nonprofit organization with a membership of more than 155,000 chemists and chemical engineers, the American Chemical Society publishes scientific journals and databases, convenes major research conferences, and provides educational, science policy and career programs in chemistry. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.