“We’re going to run out of water long before we run out of oil,” says Peter Brabeck, chairman of Nestlé.
In the first instalment of a series on the threat of water scarcity, the Financial Times describes the impact on companies.
“We have a water crisis because we make wrong water-management decisions. Climate change will further affect the water situation but even if the climate wouldn’t change, we have a water problem and this water problem is much more urgent.”
Companies like Nestlé and Coca Cola clearly require water for their drinks, and in the farming practices used to grow is flavours and colourings. But not only food companies are affected.
“The marginal cost of water is rising around the world,” says Christopher Gasson, publisher of Global Water Intelligence. “Previously, water was treated as a free raw material. Now, companies are realising it can damage their brand, their credibility, their credit rating and their insurance costs. That applies to a computer chipmaker and a food company as much as a power generator or a petrochemicals company.”
More information here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/8e42bdc8-0838-11e4-9afc-00144feab7de.html
