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Women fill water from a municipal tank on May 26, 2023 in Beth Taluka village in India.
Ritesh Shukla | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Water scarcity is seen as the most important and impactful component of the broader climate crisis, and researchers say large Asian economies such as India and China will be hardest hit by such water shortages.
Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of the Energy, Environment and Water Council, told CNBC on the sidelines of Singapore’s annual Environment Week that Asia is a manufacturing hub that is experiencing the fastest rates of urbanization, and this requires an abundant amount of water. last Tuesday.
“It’s not just older industries like steelmaking, but newer industries like semiconductor chip manufacturing and the transition to clean energy that will require a lot of water,” Ghosh said. “Asia is the engine of growth in the world, and these industries are new engines for its economic growth.”
Global demand for fresh water is expected to exceed supply by 40% to 50% by 2030. Ghosh warned that water scarcity should not be seen as a sectoral issue, but rather an issue that “transcends the entire economy.”
He said Asian economies “must understand that it is a common regional interest and it is in their own interest to mitigate the risks that come their way in order to prevent the economic shocks that severe water scarcity will impose.”
India, now the world’s most populous country, will be hardest hit by water scarcity. Although it contains 18% of the world’s population, it has enough water resources for only 4% of its population, which makes it the most water-stressed country in the world. World Bank He said.
The South Asian country relies heavily on the monsoon season to meet its water needs, but climate change has caused more floods and droughts in the country, and exacerbated its water shortage.
China is in the same rocky boat
According to an independent think tank, the Lowe Institute, approximately 80% to 90% of groundwater in China is unfit for consumption, while half of the aquifers are too polluted to be used for industry and agriculture. Fifty percent of its river water is also unfit for drinking, and half of it is unsafe for agriculture as well.
Although the second largest economy in the world It has made progress in its transition to clean energy, and its energy system remains largely coal-based. And if there is no water, there will be no coal.
Ghosh pointed out, “Water is an essential input for generating coal-fired power plants, and if water becomes more scarce or unavailable for power generation, then this plant becomes inefficient.”
Other developing countries in the region are in similar situations, but their water crises may be more difficult to resolve. Countries like the Philippines are not privileged and resilient, so there is a “massive imbalance in the water crisis we’re facing,” said Shanshan Wang, a Singapore-based water entrepreneur at sustainable consultancy Arup.
A villager leads a flock of sheep on the exposed bed of a reservoir on May 25, 2023 in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China.
Vcg | China Optical Group | Getty Images
India and China are close to seas and rivers, and are more threatened by rising sea levels, but they can afford technology and innovation to improve water storage systems, Wang told CNBC on the sidelines of International Water Week in Singapore last Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Arup’s Australian water business lead, Wayne Middleton, said, “We have to raise our hands and say that we have not recognized the value of our river systems and have exploited them for industrial and agricultural uses.” “We’ve seen recently the damage we’ve done,” he said.
It is unlikely that Western countries will remain untouched by the risks associated with this water crisis. Europe’s water problem is expected to worsen as resources become increasingly scarce due to the exacerbation of the climate emergency. The region has seen temperatures rise in the spring, after experiencing a winter heat wave that affected rivers and ski slopes.
sectors most affected
Taiwan, home to Asia’s largest semiconductor industry, again suffered from water shortages less than two years later It is battling its worst drought in a century. Huge amounts of water are needed to power plants and manufacture the semiconductor chips that go into our digital devices, and supply can be hampered if a shortage occurs.
“Taiwan is a big user of hydropower and always faces a dilemma of whether to store water for use in the semiconductor industry, or whether to release the water so that it can get more hydropower,” Wang noted.
“Drought and floods are a problem for Taiwan, so the industry is unlucky and vulnerable,” she added.
However, Wang pointed out that although many manufacturing industries need water to function, water is not actually consumed and can be recycled.
“Water scarcity is not particularly a problem for these industries because a lot of the water can be recycled. The process pollutes the water, and many industries may want to return the water directly to the ecosystem rather than purify it and reuse it,” she said. He said.
“Now that there’s a crisis, there are opportunities for companies to think about how to close the loop… They can’t just take what’s available in abundance for themselves.”
Water also plays a large role in the planned energy transition, and water shortages could hinder countries’ transition to net zero. In 2022, China will experience its worst heat wave and drought in six decades. Rising temperatures dried out areas of the Yangtze River, hampering the capabilities of hydroelectric power – the country’s second largest source of energy.
Gezhouba Dam water conservancy project of the Yangtze River after heavy rains in Yichang, Hubei Province, China.
Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty Images
To mitigate the energy risk, the country has approved the largest number of new coal-fired plants since 2015 last year. Beijing authorized 106 gigawatts of new coal capacity in 2022, four times more than the previous year and the equivalent of 100 large power plants.
“We need a major energy shift to renewables to power our new water supplies, and we need our water supplies to be available for energy security,” Middleton said. “We need to start bringing these two conversations together more often.”
Economies that rely heavily on agriculture may see production drop significantly, and food security will be at greater risk.
according to Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and ForestryThe value of agricultural production is expected to decline by 14% to $79 billion from 2023 to 2024. This is due to dry conditions that are expected to reduce crop yields from record levels in 2022 to 2023.
“We could certainly build new water supplies and provide water to industries, customers and cities in Australia, but we’re not really able to sustain enough water in longer periods of drought,” noted Arup’s Middleton.
“Of course we have to provide water for our cities, large economies and communities, but it leaves behind increasing risks for food production and the agricultural sector,” he said.
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