Business Management

Water is a renewable resource, at the same time; it is also a finite resource. In fact, only 2.5 per cent of the world’s water is fresh and roughly two-third of it is inaccessible (Hodgson 2015). Today, the main issue concerned with the world is water scarcity. Water supply crises had never been raised much concerns in terms of impactany year before 2011. However it had been rated among the top three listed every year since 2012.

Water shortage can be caused by many factors including a combination of an increasing population, a growing middle class and an inefficient use of water in agriculture. This increment in both the population and middle class will require more energy production because of human desire. They will wish air-conditioning, televisions and other devices.While, water is necessary for energy production, it is estimated by the International Energy Agency that the amount of water consumed by the sector is going to be doubled within the next 25 years. This might form the basis of water crises around the world. On the other hand, agriculture could be another origin for water deficiency.Agriculture is the world’s biggest water users as it accounts for 70 per cent of all water used. The subsidies given to the impoverished farmers are the host of the water problem because irrigation water is so cheap that it is used inefficiently. SABMiller, a brewer company noted that it pays about 50 cents per cubic meter of water while the farmers pay only half of 1 per cent of that price for the same volume of water.

As a matter of fact, dwindling water supplieshad brought a severe impact toward many companies.For instance, it is starting to bite financially and it’s capturing a larger part of the capital expenditure bill at many companies. Previously, water was treated as a free raw material. Now, companies are realizing that it can damage their long term return. The rising cost is most noticeable in the mining industry. In line with Global Water Intelligence, the...