A Call To 'Water Action'

By Kevin Westerling,
@KevinOnWater

Thomas Schumann is the founder of Thomas Schumann Capital. He is a sustainability pioneer and expert for water security investment and financial products, and a recent speaker at the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York from March 22nd (World Water Day) to the 24th.  

Live from the event, and in the spirit of the UN's plea to investors and stakeholders to take "Water Action", Schumann shared his own call to action for Water Online's audience:

"According to Wood McKenzie, global GDP is projected to reach $170 trillion by 2050. A World Bank report on climate change and water suggests that investing in global water security mitigates the potential loss of up to 6% or $10.2 trillion of global GDP per year.

There are two key aspects around financing water security for the future. By far, the largest amount is what must be financed by governments and municipalities to support freshwater extraction, delivery, and sanitation.
 
The OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] estimates investment needed until 2030 to achieve SDG 6 is approximately $1.7 trillion (3 times the current spend). Moreover, this represents only a fraction of the water investment agenda: projections of global financing needs for water infrastructure range from USD 6.7 trillion by 2030 to USD 22.6 trillion by 2050, and these figures do not cover the development of freshwater resources for irrigation or energy. (They are wrapped into the clean energy investment estimates.)

The time for investing in global water security is NOW. Further delayed action will lead to catastrophic human, environmental, and economic losses on a scale the world has not seen before."