Fans of Wall Street movies will remember the comment at the end of the American blockbuster "The Big Short" about its protagonist Michael Burry:
"Burry is focusing all his trading on one commodity: Water."
There is no doubt that water is the most important natural resource - and it is becoming scarcer. Climate change, population growth and changes in consumer behavior are leading to growing demand and thus to a shortage of this valuable commodity.
Production factor
Water underlies almost every production process; coffee, for example, requires around 140 liters of water to turn the beans into a cup of beverage1. The production of beef is also very water-intensive; more than 15,000 liters are needed to produce a kg of meat2. In Switzerland, beef consumption may slightly be declining in favor of chicken, fish and vegetarian alternatives, but the global trend is moving in a different direction. As purchasing power in developing countries increases, so does demand for luxury goods - driving up water consumption. Water scarcity is becoming a global problem as a result of excess demand: the World Resources Institute predicts that by 2025, half of the world's population may experiance water scarcity.
In Switzerland
In Switzerland, too, large quantities of water are consumed. In a report the SDC3 calculates that the average Swiss uses 162 liters of water a day for drinking, cooking, washing and cleaning. This does not include so-called virtual water, i.e. the water used to produce consumable goods . If this is included, the average consumption is over 4200 liters, enough to fill 24 bathtubs.
Tracker certificate
Water scarcity is a key issue that innovative companies are addressing - a few selected companies are investable via Tracker Certificate on ZKB MeinIndex Water (learn more).
ZKB Tracker Certificate on the MeinIndex Sustainable Water
1 https://www.projectwaterfall.org/our-blog/2016/8/2/from-farm-to-cup-the-life-of-a-coffee-bean
2 https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/jan/10/how-much-water-food-production-waste
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