How is climate change affecting water?
As UN Water points out,water and climate change are inextricably linked. Extreme weather events like the flooding we saw in Pakistan last summer, are clearly connected to climate change. While we tend to think about water scarcity here in the Middle East, the impact of too much water is also huge. By 2050, the UN estimates that the number of people at risk of floods will increase from its current level of 1.2 billion to 1.6 billion. On the opposite end of the spectrum, in the mid-2010s, 1.9 billion people, or 27% of the global population, lived in potentially water-scarce areas. In 2050, this number will increase to between 2.7 to 3.2 billion people. That is a huge challenge.
How does Egypt measure up?
The Government’s National Strategy for Climate Change 2050, launched last year outlined a detailed strategy that focuses on reducing CO2 emissions, adapting to climate change, improving financial infrastructure, improving scientific research and technology management, and introducing a governance framework. It also announced projects in energy, transportation, agriculture, water, irrigation, and carbon reduction in the petroleum sector. These are all important initiatives, and they should unlock action in all these sectors.
How can the private sector contribute to improving water management?
As with climate action broadly, we need more collaboration and partnerships between government and the private sector. This is especially true for water because proactive management of water in a sustainable manner can build resilience.And good management can end up helping combat climate changebecause it both protects ecosystems and leads to lower carbon emissions from water transportation and treatment. 12 of the 17 world’smost water stressed countries are in the Middle East according to the World Resources Institute. That means that even in wealthier nations like the UAE, there is a need to be conscious about reducing consumption of water. As a signatory of the UN Global Compact, Mashreqheadquartershas committed to transparently reporting on our water and energy consumption. It is a work in progress,and we are currently exploring ways to reduce our water footprint across our operations, whether in Egypt, India or the UAE.
What is the role of banks in this?
That’s a good question. With water, we need innovative financing and that’s where Mashreq comes in. We need scalable water solutions and the first of these is about reducing wastewater. It makes sense if you think about it, unconventional water resources, such as regulated treated wastewater, can be used for all sorts of things including irrigation, industrial and municipal purposes. If you manage wastewater safely, it is an affordable and sustainable source of water, energy, and nutrients.Mashreq has been heavily involved in financing solutions for projects like the Abu Rawah Wastewater Treatment Plant in Egypt.We contributed to the successful completion of the project by providing the capital equivalent of USD 55 Million. The project will benefit more than 8 million people in the service area covering mainly the Giza Governorate, the Eastern side of the River Nile, and Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road. It has also generated 1,600 jobs, 20% of which are for women, so there is also a wider positive social impact. And that is just one of our projects. In total, we have helped facilitatewater projects worth 1.36bn USD across Egypt, Qatar, UAE and Bahrain.
Are there technological solutions we should be looking at?
As population growth and climate change are leading tostrainon global water supply, governments are doubling down on developing sustainable wastewater management solutions and potable water treatment. With over 40% of generated wastewater not being safely treated in 2020[1], countries are focusing on shifting away from isolated treatment plants that release water into the environment to water resource recovery facilities (WRRF) that recycle wastewater for future use. WRRFs have recently emerged as a more advanced solution to treating wastewater that allow municipalities to recover valuable resources, such as phosphorus, nitrogen and biogas, as well as preserve water for industrial use, cooling and even drinking[2]. Some countries are also utilizing four-stage treatment process (conventional treatment, micro-filtration, reverse osmosis and UV treatment), branded NEWater to turn wastewater into drinking water.[3]
The growing need for a more sustainable source of potable water has propelled the discussion on reducing the use of fossil fuels in water desalination in the Gulf, 70% of which is currently done through evaporative process that heavily relies on fossil fuels. Membrane desalination process (reverse osmosis) has made the water treatment less energy-intensive, along with the solar power generation that reduces reliance on fossil fuels to power desalination plants. However, the reduction on costs of renewable energy is necessary to reduce the carbon footprint of desalination and implement sustainable projects at scale.
There are other very interesting developments in technology such as atmospheric water generators or hydropanels. The ancient Incas used this technology to create fog fences that would collect dew and channel it into cisterns. Some shopping malls including the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai has installed these. It is early days but with investment, they could be scaled up and become more efficient and widely available. Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund was recently part of a $150 million investment into Source Global. I think we should see a lot more startups in this field.
