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The World Summit in Johannesburg and Denmark's National Strategy for Sustainable Development

Water

Clean drinking water is a vital resource, and its quality is of great importance for human health and for industry. In many countries throughout the world, there is a need to develop basic water supplies as a precondition for development and environmental improvement.

The Johannesburg Plan emphasises that sustainable use of soil and water and the protection and management of water resources must be increased

Denmark is one of the few countries in Europe to extract almost all drinking water from the groundwater that requires a minimum of treatment at water treatment plants.

The implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive places great demands on both use of water resources and treatment of wastewater. In addition to the legislation for the protection of drinking water resources and the forthcoming EU groundwater directive, Denmark has a very high level of protection. At the same time, the implementation requires a reduction of the discharge of nutrients and substances injurious to the environment. In October 2003, the Danish government presented a bill on Danish implementation of the Directive.

The Government has initiated preparations for the Action Plan for the Aquatic Environment III. In this work, various opportunities for regulating agriculture‘s use of the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorous are clarified.The work includes descriptions of the opportunities for nationally and regionally based regulation of nutrient use. The political negotiations are expected to begin in December 2003 - January 2004.

Work has been intiated on assessing whether areas especially sensitive to leaching and run-off of pesticides can be identified, and on assessing whether there is a need to regulated the use of pesticides in these areas. A draft Pesticide Plan has been in hearing, and it was adopted in October 2003. The new Pesticide Plan focuses on significant areas such as food safety and groundwater pollution. The Plan sets new objectives according to the Pesticide Action Plan II.

The Danish government will carry out an service check/assessment of the water sector. A working group is to present a proposal for amended regulation and organisation that may ensure greater efficiency in the water and wastewater sectors. The point of departure for work is that security of supply as well as environmental and health considerations cannot be impaired.

The UN 2015 objective for water was expanded in Johannesburg. No later than in 2015, the proportion of people who do not have access to clean drinking water and basic sanitary facilities must be halved

The EU‘s global water initiative "Water for Life" was launched at Johannesburg. For the moment, the initiative builds upon two partnerships between the EU and Africa and 12 former Soviet republics (EECCA) respectively. On behalf of the EU, Denmark has undertaken to coordinate the development of the partnership with the EECCA countries and established a secretariat to support this work. In addition, Denmark is coordinating the development of the water and sanitation part of the initiative for Africa.

The water initiative is a platform for strategic partnerships to promote sustainable development.The water initiative is based on experience with the EU Water Framework Directive and on the EU development assistance‘s contributions to achieving international water objectives.

Partnerships have already begun, and the challenge is to realise all parts of the initiative in the near future.This consists of ensuring financial means for the initiative, and it includes the development programmes, the NGOs and the private sector taking part in the partnership.The Government will endeavour to achieve this objective.

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