Legions of business leaders, economists, and think-tankers are coming to reclassify water as a kind of buried treasure: “blue gold.” Willem Buiter, Citigroup’s chief economist, sums up the thinking of many these days: “Water as an asset class, in my view, will eventually become the single most important physical commodity — dwarfing oil, copper, agricultural commodities, and precious metals.”
And that makes the next question a humdinger: If water is so incredibly valuable, why is it so cheap?
One could argue that the answer to water scarcity is simple: Let water’s price swim closer to its value. Let the invisible hand do its job, and water prices will rise, demand will fall, and this precious resource will be saved. If water’s price were truly reflective of its value, the argument goes, investors would pour in capital for projects ranging from desalination plants to gray-water recycling systems to repairs on leaky municipal water pipes.
“When you take a broader look at the value of water, you look at reputational risk as well as supply dependability,” says Jason Morrison, program director of the Corporate Sustainability Program at Pacific Institute, a nonprofit that works with Fortune 500 companies on water solutions.
Many companies are calculating that it’s worth investing in water-conservation efforts even with water’s market price near zero. Asks Will Sarni, a consultant specializing in water practices at Deloitte: “Water might not cost much, but what is its value if the lack of it can shut down your entire operation?”
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2014/05/01/brainstorm-green-water/