Download Is water a global risk?

Is water a global risk?
Is water an obvious risk?
US Baseline Water Stress and Power Plants
Change in US Water Stress by 2025 and Power Plants
47% of fracked wells were found to be in river basins
with high or extremely high risk of water stress
South East Asia Baseline Water Stress and Power
Plants
South East Asia Change in Water Stress to 2025 and
Power Plants
The Water / Coal Relationship in China
Water-Food Global Risks
By 2025, annual grain losses due to
water stress could be equivalent to
30% of global cereal consumption
Agriculture often uses 70%+ of blue
water, but with a low contribution to
GDP – the economic competition
for blue water
will consequently increase: we will
need
much more crop with many less
drops
Global Baseline Water Stress c. 2000
Global Water Stress 2025
Infrastructure Investment Gap: the biggest chunk
is blue
Water Infrastructure is the
largest “green growth”
Investment requirement
This is just for investment in
water and wastewater services
When risks are looked at more
holistically, can water systems for
agriculture, energy and cities
be smartly re-imagined?
Is there a major market to make?
Qatar placing 2-3% of its GDP into
R&D in this space
Financial Risk and Financial Opportunity
A Financial Risk
• A choke point on economic growth for some countries
• A resource risk for some sectors in some countries: agriculture, energy
• An infrastructure risk for potential investors
• A material and political risk to the operations of key clients who are large water users
• A public governance risk – who is on top of the issue in a given jurisdiction?
• A corporate governance risk – who is on top of the issue in the enterprise?
• An irrational risk – water is emotive and unlikely to be ever rationally priced
• A dynamic risk – trends of climate change or overuse will make matters worse
A Financial Opportunity
• All activities need water – it is a non-transferable, non-substitutable resource
• More water will be needed: growing economies are thirsty
• There will be location specific demands and challenges
• There are proven technologies
• Key clients of banks and investors are acting, but seek support especially for the long term
The initiative
• A BANKING WATER INTIATIVE to help meet the demands of large water using clients
•
World Economic Forum
Contact
Dominic Waughray
World Economic Forum
[email protected]
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