Water scarcity draws investor interest

Article Excerpt

Despite covering about 70% of the earth’s surface, only 3% of that water is fresh and therefore suitable for human consumption and agriculture. At present, an estimated 3.6 billion people (nearly half the global population) live in areas that are potentially water-scarce at least one month per year. This segment of the population could increase to 5 billion by 2050. Rising fresh water demand According to the 2018 UN World Water Development Report, global water use has increased 600% over the past 100 years. Consumption continues to grow steadily at a rate of about 1% per year due to population increases, economic development, urbanization and changing consumption patterns. Consumption will continue to grow significantly over the next two decades. Industrial and domestic demand for water should increase much faster than agricultural demand, although agriculture will remain the largest overall user (see graph). Countries with developing or emerging economies will account for the vast majority of this growing demand. At the same time, the global water cycle…