Last year, legendary investor Warren Buffet bought a water treatment provider, Nalco Holding Company, adding to other water-related investments in his wildly successful portfolio. (As of March 30, 2010, a single share of his company, Berkshire Hathaway, could be bought for $122,459.)
The move sent ripples through the investing community: a clear signal that investing in water is an untapped opportunity. Water, like oil, is finite. There is only so much ocean saltwater, glacier freshwater and water in the air, while global consumption is growing twice as fast as the world’s population.
Climate change affects how and where this resource is delivered around the world, with more intense rainfalls and dry spells impacting everything from the food cycle to manufacturing to drinking supplies. Climate change is expected to account for about 20% of the global increase in water scarcity in coming years. The World Bank estimates water availability will change dramatically by the middle of this century, leading to what some have called “water wars.”
New water management technologies are the key to managing water scarcity. Buffet’s investment in Nalco, which had $3.7 billion in sales in 2009, is one example. The company helps its industrial customers reduce water and energy use. For example, it claims it 3D TRASAR® cooling water technology has saved more than 200 billion gallons of water. Nalco is also teaming up with organizations like the World Wildlife Fund to help develop ways to conserve water. The company’s stock price has doubled over the past year.
Read more: Tatiana Serafin, Mint.com, 01 Apr 2010
[...] agrees that water is “the new gold”. On its water and sanitation financing blog WASH news finance, the article quoted above was merely copied and uncritically [...]