easter holidays. you're watching d.w. news from berlin we've got more news at the top the hour up next a documentary film the lords of water necessity or come on a t.v. text will. cut. robbed of their soul that's what if people experience is when their heritage is taken from them countless cultural artifacts were stolen from africa by colonialists and carted off to europe. what should be done with the stolen art from africa. stolen and sold and starts april 13th on d w. from

the war we are in funded by water that was good as far as i was in crops destroyed while. that was a lot of it on the record breaking when the. today more than 70 percent of the earth's fresh water is used for food production water has become the most coveted resource on the planet. and. to save humanity the financial world has come up with a revolutionary idea wall street wants to trade water as a commodity like oil or gold. water falls from the sky therefore should be free whenever i hear that i always say diamonds are current nature and they're not free 'd. it's a financial product like any other financial model. no way around i want

to block for photos like a lot of mom and dad who just the beginning to some water financial revolution. what about the guy that can't afford it that guy still means water. but. the blue gold rush has begun can anyone stop it. with the human right to water it means that it's not a charity it's an issue of justice. this is the issue of our time this is the crisis of our time. with speculators pitted against protesters 'd the battle over the commodification of water has already begun. who will come out on top the planet the people or the markets. will walk. through the roof

the loo for. the city of london is a global financial hub. this is where the relationship between water and finance 1st began 3 decades ago. prime minister margaret thatcher was seeking to revive the stagnant british economy with market based reforms. water was among the targets of her drive to privatized public service it's the reverse tradition that is on the nose of the times more time in the benefit of the elimination and i would not hear that was a common cause nation i believe move to leave. exactly indeed.

what happened was the entire system the entire physical system as well as the concession was sold to the private companies. one of the 1st think some of the companies to it was to start closing off would splice to people he had paid the bills. one company for example disconnected 11 fails and customers and this was the company was concerned. they could stay this collective if they didn't pay their bills they didn't get a new war so. to say always just come back down it's only got. life you think you have to make this journey that they just come down. but the other 4 fought us. i mean you could have

drank a lot it just took things. we didn't need next to finish during the last. us hate myself is this just a. different look at perspective but doesn't look it can careless if people the way of color really that's not their job but job is making money and lived on that very well. and. finally 10 years later a law was passed prohibiting companies from cutting off the water supply to customers who hadn't paid their bills. but that wasn't enough to deter the financiers on the contrary in the early 2000 and new generation of traders dip

their toes into the world of water. private equity funds also known as vulture funds. unregulated and unaccountable they are literally above the law. in london thames water the distribution authority that covers 20 percent of the country was acquired by australian bank mcquarrie. i was aware of mccoury i mean they were quite a famous institution in australia where they've been named as something i think they were called the millionaires factory because so many people who worked for cory became very rich as a result of the bonuses that they had and. book corey one of the 1st private equity to say that these are good places to be one of the simple reasons for that is if you. go to population

growth if there's population growth this can remove water from. david hall was the man who revealed this water scandal. in 2017 he published a study in which he detailed 30 years of abusive practices. rising bills soaring dividends to shareholders and tax evasion. a caricature of finance capitalism. we ended up losing a belts 2500000000 pills. was being taken else of the system but private capital no reason for that was that the dividends though.

were very very ridiculous so in other words these companies were perfect cash machines they still they still. everybody believes correctly that we are being swindled but the world was. mcquarrie supplied london with drinking water for 10 years. their parting gift when they sold their last share in 20172000000000 pounds of extra debt. today more than 80 percent

of britons say they would like to go back to a time when water was a common public and essentially free resource. an iran that appears to be slipping beyond reach. australia the hottest continent on the planet on the front line of climate change. here drought is a part of everyday life. in this parched landscape australians are becoming acquainted with tomorrow's world. a world where water is a scarce and expensive resource.

lardo han is a dairy farmer who lives in new south wales one of the driest regions in the country. for many months now his reserves have been empty. the only way he can feed his animals is by buying extra water from the private sector. will go no. go. to die. just for mark a out cost me close to half a $1000000.00 for 12 months or $500000.00 can you afford that it would put a right deal destroying all of us if we if we did it a great deal a strong. thank you thank you thank fuck we

now if i'm in the last 3 months it's already spent $1000000.00 on board up. a storm can come straight from our walk at all empty so it's they've spent the money but still game one with whether it's going to work on the. east which calling up base became the chaos a lawyer because we. can't. we can't afford a real lot of grinding out there getting very little ny growing up all of the mining. side they're producing. 50 percent based on what i should be but he's told me. it's just. so volatile my. drawings of all i'm going. and i am trying it out the other end of. the.

water has become like gold. it is bought and sold with a single click with the help of a mobile app that monitors the market 24 hours a day. its price fluctuates daily depending on supply and demand. it's there in target market panama fading or. even. not most of that money ready. once the transaction is approved irrigation channel downs open automatically and pour out millions of leaders to customers. those who can pay.

people are just taking water from us and it saves trying out a lot it's taking effort from a title or. why are we doing it we make sure the rivers are full and that we don't have to go back onto that i can market to buy water again will happen when we die. we multiply russian relates. to combat shortages the australian government has moved to ration water each year in allocates a quota to major water consumers farmers and dust realists and cities. the calculation is based on consumption existing reserves and weather forecasts.

in addition to this new law called the water act water trading markets have been created on which anyone can purchase additional rights or sell some of their own. as well in just 10 years the water business has become a new eldorado with a turnover of $2200000000.00 per year you know i am 1st thing. water find is the world's leading water stock exchange. it works with the mega leader a unit of measurement equivalent to 1000000 liters. some are here called me the water market pawnee. i'd like to cite and i'm a pioneer in the world. prices to diet around the

$500.00. later all mean it is that expensive is i think it's. what $500.00. 300 euros 350 euros for 1000000 liters of water i'd say it's pretty cheap when you look at it from that perspective. isn't it a good thing that we are finally putting a value on this resource because in putting a value on it we're going to respect that will. in this new world every drop counts. water is no longer a natural resource but a commodity. when

i got home i might bring on. 3548 if they take 5050 i got to yeah he said oh then i said even i find a non 810101020 bucks i got here at you know what really got in i think 320-4050 party headquarters when i want to leave here and i think that's one thing we want to thank heaven i don't and 5 why i'd be hard to have and i find it was still really really what i did it was a good thing. that no one says and. i down for that one out of the little of my so you still going to use when you sold on to it yeah i know they say. they have but you have a brain is over. the water crisis and soaring prices have forced to david owen into bankruptcy. he has to sell the family dairy

farm joining a long list of victims of the water markets oh no they didn't even know that if i'm going to fund them and not write. to them. and the end of the new year are going to these things that go along. with bold kilometers from. the special dog. you look at the cash lives for the last 12 months and 4 years ago when you realize you're spending more and more waters and then jenny said to me. we can't keep going on a lot this. that called the citation was very nauseous. 3 more dishes in the. in

the same stump they are there. as their emotional. lot is probably not as much emotion as slight or wrong when we showing caleb's i can tell you they will admire the reason they were a grandmother right gravel so. small they tell me you get over. here with me i mean i can't 558 is that you know. initially farmers welcomed the creation of water markets 100. big agricultural players saw it as an effective way to buy water whilst others plan to supplement their income by selling their surplus we didn't know they could be going to go down further if they were right the only argument 10 years later the markets have become ruthless that

if they want to write about the rate that you know a lot. like this lots of people have done understand what about what i'm saying the market just. lisha cave all over all the tall good the stuff of what's happening and i don't think a lot of us know what's happening in the water market. alicia buoying you know a look at the water market because lots of dollars are a good person. so special looking for water you think golf all day and. it's going to. strike me as an extremely close as searing temperatures put emergency crews on notice and authorities ready to answer any major process records fell today and more city temple tomorrow without light forecast to hit 45 to graze nudging the hardest i already told the city was the 1st one to what happened to. adelaide in southeast

australia the driest city on the driest continent on the planet. adelaide serves as a think tank it is here at the university that the idea of water trading was conceived. and in some ways you might get 0 water so they said nobody can take it in the water so you're going to have to find a wife. cheryl. mike young is the founding father of the australian water markets a renowned economist he attended harvard university and has advised of the united nations. this is the man writing the new history of water. scarcity is really thieves' so water scarcity is part of the future of the world to

global predictions that by 2015 more than half the world will be living with limited water resources an abundance is a thing of the past. i thought they used to be. very precious why. why is it drives innovation that makes sure our water goes to the best uses it possibly can so we make money and feed ourselves well. and that lead to the interest in water markets and drive a revolution. the revolution started by mike young has turned climate imbalance into a market force. it's fascinating to see how sophisticated our water markets of the comp if this rain forecast in a week's time the price of water will go down because farmers know they won't have

to irrigate if it's going to be really hot for the next fortnight to see in the price of water goes up. and. change. mike young has opened up water markets to all farmers municipalities small investors and above all professional trainers. or. nowadays everybody can buy water on the stock market for consumption or simply as a vehicle for speculation. when water becomes scarce and i suspect some scale then somebody has to stop using it what my kids do is they. discover and

reveal the most appropriate people to poor house of agriculture as it is from making cars as it is for lots of things we live in a competitive world. australia's new lords of water live in melbourne one of the country's business centers they are bankers insurers pension and investment fund managers and they are gradually taking . control of this blue. i don't need to i let you know would i lie and when would i consider it yes but i'm not a farmer i'm an investment banker how much did you invest not much maybe $20000000.00 . the price of water has doubled but in the next 10 years it will double again because of intensive agriculture.

nicknamed the water bandit david williams rules over his empire from the 45th floor of an office tower. as an owner of expansive water reserves he rents his water to farmers as others would rent land. and his future looks bright. if we go to 9000000000 population and the chinese want more food in the indonesians one more food in the unions one more food and they can afford to pay for it then we 1st need to find more intensive ways of growing food that means more water and that's going to leave you smack bang in the hake it there was a price of how you allocate it and how you regulate it.

but the being the best on war 'd it's getting back to the ol guys all the land molds and the pace of famine and if we want to survival die in what we're going after by the border what lane holds jane the water is well back to the middle i just. water was the last remaining natural resource to have escaped trading ready ready. but australia has pulled the plug on that exemption. because water offers an opportunity for greater profitability and wealth. on behalf of my people. for this land in this water.

'd water for me and my people it's a part of who we are. 'd it's a part of our story our creation story. today is different. australia has gone ahead and implemented water markets. how do you look at that we don't like it very much. we don't like it at all 'd. that would mean they wouldn't want on any given thing the nightly news they will not be world watching we're to find out everyone else interesting again i think it . was a little while but again i'm i'm i'm i'm i'm. selling

trading what is your. feeling. making sure that you're. making sure that no risk they feel. part of it. most of the greek. * * * * * greedy people. * * * they want the wrote a book or 4 books. * and they're so i look to the real. economy money. the congress money. to. treat your change governments are already pretty strange. but they're going to honor newtown and the time honored neutron star and began to talk about cooperation

you're saying return. to plan. b. . if you thought the hot weather was bad this weekend just wait until tomorrow the 5th day of our heat wave is expected to be incredibly uncomfortable and potentially dangerous and the really very hot today it's moving in from the midwest where they've been dealing with the sweltering aids but now it's moving here to the east coast secret stick around for several. it's becoming. a way to make water a commodity listed on the stock exchange bet on its price what if wall street copied the australian model. ever since the subprime mortgage crisis when bundles of bad debt destroyed lives and countries finance giants have

been looking for new investment opportunities. in june 2008 the investment bank goldman sachs began wondering is water the new oil the firm as the bank is known encourages top clients to take a gamble on the future. goldman sachs the conference that was me i used to work at goldman sachs and in 2008 that was a conference that i held there's this absolute into it of the peel that says population growth is outstripping the water supply that must mean companies are engaged in the water business are a sure thing that there can't mess they get mesmerized by these mega trend appeals and water. is water the next oil. the question is not going to go away which is probably not ready for it yet.

in the developed world for the last 100 years. we haven't had to think about our water or worry about our water it's been essentially unlimited where ever we want it whenever we want it it's been really inexpensive no one thinks about their water bill they don't say oh take a shorter shower the water's too expensive i think that era is over. climate change is going to have a huge impact on water availability around the world the same amount of water is going to be available in the big picture but we don't live in the big picture we live in a specific place we raise our food in a specific place and so the movement of that water will have a dramatic impact on how cities manage their water and how we are able to grow food to feed or. the climate emergency demands radical changes.

when it comes to water wall street is poised for a takeover. in 827000 report citi group one of the largest us banks announced the end of 3 and cheap water. is no alternative to pricing water properly making people realize that every time they take a sip of water there is an opportunity cost and they feel it in their wallet how else are you going to get people to use less if you give it to them for free. the dam has broken liberalism celebrates free markets its proponents are pushing ahead with plans for a union of finance and water you're going to see acid markets selling water

derivatives even the high frequency traders that firms would become interested so no everybody sees this as the opportunity did will come your question is just where and who will push it 1st and hardest. and what would be their motivation in coming profits well also. indirectly doing good for humanity so it's a bit of all possible worlds it could be better but isn't it very immoral to trade water to be immoral to trade water. because water is life you pay for health care just because it's life doesn't mean it's going to be priced.

a decisive step in the commodification of water happened in december 2020 when wall street began trading water futures. the futures are tied to the nasdaq vélez california water index which is based on prices in the states major river basins. an algorithm provides a benchmark price for water transactions across california. it's the 1st time that water has been reduced to an algorithm. the man who came up with the equation works in the city of london. before he discovered water the former swiss bank trader was involved in the carbon market the trade in greenhouse gas emission permits. what he

used to be free in the old but the world is changing is too much trace on the system and the most important commodity on earth can't be free forever. if you want to put it into the. if you don't control it and use it properly what will happen. the cash will have it and the cash went up. if what people are saying is coming you better be on top of your water situation we're going to be without water and what i'm doing is getting people focus. to see what is actually going on on the ground it changes the world the world of water .

is it too late to stop a financial takeover of water. water . and water financial. you can't let the market be the only decider of how water's allocated price be the only way you distribute water because then you have rich people with poor people who are dead. the global water rush is accelerating. privatization competition profit. he words from the doctrine of classical liberalism. one woman is standing up to the threat of waters commodification canadian human rights activist model barlow.

she won her 1st victory at the united nations in 2010 when the general assembly voted in favor of a resolution that recognized access to water as a universal right. it must be declared a public resource that belongs equally i was in the united nations up in the balcony the day that they voted and i thought we were going to lose i had staff with me they were trying don't worry we're going to be back in 2 years or 5 years don't matter how long it takes we're going to be back and we'll do it and when they vote they vote they sit in their chairs they voted electronically so you know right away so 122 countries voted in favor and 41 they abstained they didn't have the nerve to oppose even though they actually wanted to oppose. among the nations that abstained that they were australia the united states and britain.

countries that have all opted to turn water into a financial product. the human family took an evolutionary step forward at that point and since then every country has ratified it in one way or another it's it's now universal so you got it now now. barlow won that battle but she hasn't yet won the war against the commodification of water and december 28th the activist was invited by the nobel committee to a conference on the future of water in stockholm. the united nations calls water scarcity. to truly guarantee the human right to water we must protect it as a public trust and a commons not a commodity to be put on the open market for sale like oil and gas. must challenge

the current power structure. that supports an equal access to the planet's to mentally water supply. our goal must be clean affordable accessible public water. for everywhere for all time. is it the end of cheap and free water well the corporations and citi group and others want it to be the end of free and cheap water that's their argument they're saying oh yes it's a human right because they can't fight that anymore because everybody says you're awful person if you if you deny it so oh yes it's a human right but the end of free and cheap water when they say it's got to be a commodity it's because they know that the scarcer it becomes in a world where you desperately need water there's this gold it's blue gold.

the winds of revolt are strengthening. right. in europe the fight against the commodification of water is above all reflected in public opposition to privatization moves citizens spearheading the resistance have taken to the streets of dublin rome berlin and paris. but how long will europe be able to withstand the pressure from the financial world . in 2012 a petition called right to water amassed nearly 2000000 signatures. the petition demanded that the human right to water and sanitation be written into

european law. the european tradition is that the if it really changes the way we discuss about the water in europe it helped it creating a movement and the whole. idea that water should because here is a human right. before all the documents from the european commission were starting to enter the u.s. market make any shamus they were always pushing for early release. now and this is not something that you can usually do in a public way. so the official answer from the european commission west of course which apportion our right to water and have to happen now is real and education.

to date the right to water petition has succeeded in halting the ambitions of financiers across europe. but it remains a fragile victory. there are 2 paths and i don't know who's going to win this it's either water is a commodity and it's going to be put on the open market for sale or it's not it's going to be understood to be a human right you can't have it both ways it's time to choose now which path we're going to. be. different and it's changing and it's changing far. more scarcity. is it a windfall for our business yes it is is it a bad thing well i suppose tom will tell. obvious sign don't do it

so i take on this model people just talk to my huge amount of money out of. you more i'm going to have to sell you sell to get the border so be out of some on . the roof. the. the fate of water on our planet hangs in the balance. more than 4000000000 years ago in arrived on this earth from space. and has sense or vibe to all manner of catastrophes. but it is now being threatened by people who dream of turning rivers into gold. as if nature was nothing but a giant supermarket.

ringback ringback pick up at some point in the relegation battle. that's it in my list needless to say as mine speech company. looks up a little as changed and life is giving nothing away but is likely to win when the 2 teams come. to minutes on d w. more than

a 1000 years ago europe witnesses a huge construction boom. christianity firmly established itself. both religious and secular leaders aren't eager to display their power. to trace begins. who can create the tallest biggest and most beautiful structures. stone masons builders and architects compete with each other. this is how massive churches are created. a contest of the cathedrals. of 12th d.w. .

this is the news from berlin germany is in a quote new pandemic at least that's the assessment from chancellor angela merkel of the coronavirus crisis stalled well into the morning german federal state leaders have agreed to a strict easter shocked also coming up. u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken is in brussels pledging to rebuild.