Water Quality Issues in Developing Countries
Of all the environmental concerns that developing countries face, the lack of adequate water of
good quality is probably the most serious. When the United Nations agreed at the Johannesburg
Earth Summit on the set of the 8 Millennium Development Goals, Goal 7 was ‘to ensure
environmental sustainability’. This has three targets and a number of indicators. It is
noteworthy that water is so prominent; it is the only environmental media that has a target of its
own as well as being an indicator for the ‘improving slum dwellers’ target. One can debate
whether this priority is justified on social and economic grounds and we intend to do that in this
chapter. However, there is no doubting the importance that national governments and
international financing agencies place on addressing the water problem.
About the Editor
Joseph Stiglitz
President
Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD)
Joseph E. Stiglitz is President of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, and Chairman of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. He is University Professor at Columbia, teaching in its Economics Department, its Business School, and its School of International and Public Affairs. He chaired the UN Commission of Experts on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, created in the aftermath of the financial crisis by the President of the General Assembly. He is former Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank and Chairman of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2001.
About the Author
Anil Markandya
Professor of Economics
University of Bath
Additional Related / Relevant Information
Publication Information
| Type | Network Paper |
| Program | Environmental Economics |
| Posted | 03/01/04 |
| Download | 217kb pdf |
| # Pages | 34 |