Amid rising global temperatures, big companies across the globe have realised that their only way forward is to invest heavily in water security.

Global temperatures have increased dramatically in the past decade or so, leading to devastating droughts in some areas while other areas experienced just as damaging major floods.

The scale of companies concern regarding global warming led them to invest in excess of $23.4bn in projects during 2016 in order to secure their water supply, thereby hopefully ensuring that any ensuing droughts would not hurt their operations.

CDP, an environmental impact charity that collects information for 639 investors with $69tn in assets, has revealed that companies are investing heavily in various water-related projects, including improvements in irrigation and waste-water reclamation projects to avoid droughts.

Southern Europe and California both experienced severe droughts this year, and parts of South Africa are currently experiencing major problems, especially in the agricultural regions, while trying to battle through the worst drought the country has experienced in the past one hundred years. Crops are suffering, farmers are planting less for the coming season, livestock is dying for lack of feed and water, and jobs in a country already suffering from unemployment are being shed every month in the agricultural and building industries, both of which rely heavily on water.

Cape Town officials declared that the dams were reaching disaster levels, despite Level 5 Water Restrictions, and water rationing has now been introduced via throttling of the water pressure.

Paul Simpson, chief executive of CDP, said business-as-usual water management was no longer an option for global companies.

“From brand damage to disrupted supply chains, increased operating costs to constrained growth, water security is now big business and poses increasingly significant threats and opportunities to global firms,” he added.

While many large international companies such as food manufacturer Danone, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, and AU Optronics, are spending millions, not enough is being done on a large enough scale.

According to Eoin Murray, head of investments at Hermes, the UK asset manager, “Businesses are not yet taking this seriously enough. The spending is still a drop in the ocean. But any kind of progress is welcome.”

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