{"id":1107,"date":"2025-10-02T04:02:43","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/many-little-streams-make-a-mighty-river\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T04:02:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:02:43","slug":"many-little-streams-make-a-mighty-river","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/blogs\/global-green-economics\/many-little-streams-make-a-mighty-river\/","title":{"rendered":"Many Little Streams Make A Mighty River"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"middle content\">\n<div class=\"column left\" id=\"columnleft\">\n<div class=\"block-0\">\n<section class=\"block themeicon Expert opinion\">\n<article>\n<div class=\"icon\">\n<h3>Theme<\/h3>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/themes\/food-security\/\" title=\"Food Security\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"projectimage\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/themes\/food-security\/88516-134-eng-gb\/food-security_big_icon_theme.png\" alt=\"Food Security\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/themes\/food-security\/\" title=\"Food Security\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFood Security<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tExpert opinion<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"description\">\n<h4>Related themes:<\/h4>\n<div class=\"icons\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/themes\/inclusive-economy\/\" title=\"Inclusive Economy\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/themes\/inclusive-economy\/88460-128-eng-gb\/inclusive-economy_tiny_icon.png\" alt=\"Inclusive Economy\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:both;\"><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<section class=\"block article author\">\n<div class=\"headline\">\n<h3>About the author<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-content\">\n<div class=\"about-author\">\n<div class=\"tleft\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/authors\/kishimoto-satoko\/166951-1-eng-gb\/kishimoto-satoko_author.jpg\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"tright\">\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/authors\/kishimoto-satoko\/\">Satoko Kishimoto<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCoordinator, Water Justice Project.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/authors\/kishimoto-satoko\/\">full profile<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"block article author\">\n<div class=\"headline\">\n<h3>Tags<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_9\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\">water management<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_9\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/en\/display\/articles\/6278\/\">partnership<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_6\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/en\/display\/articles\/6286\/\">development policy<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_8\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\">water management<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_9\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/en\/display\/articles\/6278\/\">partnership<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_8\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/en\/display\/articles\/6286\/\">development policy<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_5\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\">identity<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_8\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\">environment<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_10\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\">capitalism<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_9\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\">well-being<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_2\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\">policy<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_2\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\">interdisciplinary research<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_10\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\">identity<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"weight_7\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\">ecology<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section class=\"content column wide left blog_post content view\" id=\"content\">\n<div class=\"edit image\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/blogs\/global-green-economics\/many-little-streams-make-a-mighty-river\/166927-1-eng-gb\/many-little-streams-make-a-mighty-river_full_view.jpg\" alt=\"Photo by Luc Legay\">\n\t<\/div>\n<article class=\"fader\">\n<header class=\"contents\">\n<div class=\"share\">\n\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    var addthis_config = {\n        ui_language = 'en'\n    }\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis sharing\">\n\t<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_32x32_style\" addthis:title=\"Many little streams make a mighty river\">\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_twitter\" tw:via=\"thebrokeronline\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_facebook\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_pinterest_share\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_preferred_4\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_compact\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style\"><\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<p>\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_config = data_track_addressbar;<\/script><br \/>\n\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/js\/300\/addthis_widget.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n\t<!-- AddThis Button END -->\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"addthis article_options\">\n\t\t<!-- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/mandrill\/subscription\/add\/6334\/18355\">Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t -->\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMany little streams make a mighty river<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/authors\/kishimoto-satoko\/\">Satoko Kishimoto<\/a>\t\t|<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t06 September 2025<br \/>\n\t<\/header>\n<div class=\"body contents\">\n\t<!-- body --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Presumably few Europeans would oppose one percent of their water bill going to international solidarity projects to help people who don\u2019t yet have access to safe water and adequate sanitation. And as the Swedish proverb says, many little streams make a mighty river: the combined sums can make a real difference. In some countries a one percent&nbsp;solidarity levy is already common practice. It is implemented in municipalities in France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain, and&nbsp;in the Netherlands, a national law allows public water companies to use one percent of users&#8217; fees for solidarity projects in the global South.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">The huge potential of this approach became clear during the Stockholm Water Week seminar on<a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldwaterweek.org\/sa\/node.asp?node=1079&amp;sa_content_url=%2Fplugins%2FEventFinder%2Fevent.asp&amp;sa_title=Implementing+the+Right+to+Water%3A+through+the+1%25+Solidarity+Levy+and+UNDP+GoAL+WASH&amp;id=4&amp;event=476\" target=\"_blank\">&nbsp;\u2018Implementing the Right to Water: through the 1% Solidarity Levy\u2019.<\/a> The seminar was organized by UNDP and the UN capital development fund (UNCDF), who actively promote this policy globally. The&nbsp;one percent&nbsp;solidarity levy is an innovative financial scheme that enables public water companies to implement international cooperation projects. This overcomes the hurdle that it is otherwise often difficult for public water companies to legitimize spending revenue outside their service area. Amsterdam\u2019s public water company Waternet, for example, uses this funding mechanism to implement public-public partnerships in Egypt, Indonesia and elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Citizens in 80 municipalities and communities in Switzerland proudly contribute to development objectives through the&nbsp;one percent&nbsp;policy, Manfred Kaufmann of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation told the seminar participants. NGOs working with partners in the global south also play a big role in the Swiss model, which involves a national coordination body, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.solidariteausuisse.ch\/\" target=\"_blank\">Solidarit&#8217;eau Suisse<\/a>. Projects proposed by NGOs are assessed by an independent experts committee and money collected by municipal water companies is made available for those projects that are approved. Solidarit&#8217;eau Suisse raises 2 million Euro annually, based on the voluntary commitment by the 80 municipalities involved, and 20 projects are implemented. The sums raised in countries like The Netherlands and France are substantially higher. Imagine if all OECD countries introduced similar financial schemes \u2013&nbsp;very significant funds could be raised. This would allow a public water company to play an active role in helping other utilities on a solidarity basis. Currently, not-for-profit partnerships among water operators depend on aid money from donor agencies. The one percent solidarity levy is one of the ways to raise additional and more autonomous finance for not-for-profit partnership projects.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"><i>(This blog post was first posted on the <a href=\"http:\/\/worldwaterweek.blogspot.com\/2011\/08\/many-little-streams-make-mighty-river-1.html\" target=\"_blank\">World Water Week blog<\/a>)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"credit\">Photo credit main picture: Photo by Luc Legay<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<!-- body -->\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"commentform content column wide left\">\n<div class=\"disqus_content\">\n\t\t<a name=\"comments\" id=\"comments\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"disqus_thread\"><\/div>\n<p>        <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n            \/* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * *\/\n            var disqus_shortname = 'broker'; \/\/ required: replace example with your forum shortname\n            var disqus_identifier = '7528';\n            \/* * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * *\/\n\t\t\tfunction trackComment(comment)\n            {\n                console.log(comment);\n            }\n\t\t\tfunction disqus_config() {\n                this.callbacks.onNewComment = [function() { \n                console.log(comment);\n                }];\n            }\n\t\t\t(function() {\n                var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text\/javascript'; dsq.async = true;\n                dsq.src = '\/\/' + disqus_shortname + 'https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/blogs\/global-green-economics\/.disqus.com\/embed.js';\n                (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq);\n            })();\n        <\/script><br \/>\n        <!--\n        <noscript>Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\/?ref_noscript\">comments powered by Disqus.<\/a><\/noscript>\n        <a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\" class=\"dsq-brlink\">comments powered by <span class=\"logo-disqus\">Disqus<\/span><\/a>\n        -->\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false,"raw":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Theme Food Security Expert opinion Related themes: About the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template_3.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1107","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Many little streams make a mighty river \/ Global green economics \/ Blogs - The Broker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Presumably few Europeans would oppose one percent of their water bill going to international solidarity projects to help people who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t yet have access to safe water and adequate sanitation. And as the Swedish proverb says, many little streams make a mighty river: the combined sums can make a real difference. In some countries a one percent&amp;nbsp;solidarity levy is already common practice. It is implemented in municipalities in France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain, and&amp;nbsp;in the Netherland...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/blogs\/global-green-economics\/many-little-streams-make-a-mighty-river\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Many little streams make a mighty river \/ Global green economics \/ Blogs - The Broker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Presumably few Europeans would oppose one percent of their water bill going to international solidarity projects to help people who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t yet have access to safe water and adequate sanitation. And as the Swedish proverb says, many little streams make a mighty river: the combined sums can make a real difference. 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And as the Swedish proverb says, many little streams make a mighty river: the combined sums can make a real difference. In some countries a one percent&amp;nbsp;solidarity levy is already common practice. It is implemented in municipalities in France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain, and&amp;nbsp;in the Netherland...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/blogs\/global-green-economics\/many-little-streams-make-a-mighty-river\/","og_type":"article","og_title":"Many little streams make a mighty river \/ Global green economics \/ Blogs - The Broker","og_description":"Presumably few Europeans would oppose one percent of their water bill going to international solidarity projects to help people who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t yet have access to safe water and adequate sanitation. And as the Swedish proverb says, many little streams make a mighty river: the combined sums can make a real difference. In some countries a one percent&amp;nbsp;solidarity levy is already common practice. 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