Curbing speculation and the right to water

There was good news and bad news about the adoption of a resolution on “The human right to safe drinking water and sanitation” by UN General Assembly’s Third Committee in November 2013. The good news is that for the first time all of the UN member States affirmed that the rights to water and sanitation are legally binding in international law. But in the effort to appease the U.S. (and here comes the bad news), the language used to define those rights was omitted from the text. The debate isn’t over, however, and IATP’s Shiney Varghese identifies opportunities to truly make the rights to water and sanitation legally binding.

Unprecedented levels of speculation in commodities markets have played a key role in destabilizing global food prices. Reliable tools for regulation exist and a global approach is on the table. In less than 2,000 words, Dr. Steven Suppan’s piece Dodd-Frank position limits on commodity contracts gives you the $300 trillion answer to why you care about position limits. His December 2013 post “Trading” at the speed of light explains that while 91 percent of all commodities futures trading is automated and lightning fast, a few simple regulations, implemented globally, could slow down the wild ride of high-frequency trading.