By Aaron Rutkoff
November 15, 2023

Water Consumption is now a big deal.... A climate-driven water grab
Water is now a global asset, and a growing threat

To measure all the ways humans move our dearest commodity around the planet, researchers devised two categories of water. Physical water pools in reservoirs and comes out of the faucet. It’s wet. Virtual water, on the other hand, is the invisible history of all the H2O used to make stuff: tomatoes, solar panels, wood and almost everything else. Not ­necessarily wet.

Global average temperatures spiked by 1.8C in September; it was a shock to scientists. The atmos­phere sponges up 7% more water vapor for every additional degree Celsius. That’s a kind of virtual water, in a way — impossible to see and easy to forget. Except when it becomes a very physical flood raging through the streets.

As a matter of economics, water is mostly virtual. The physical liquid is only 0.0002% of the global trade. That means the real economics of water is mostly hidden, just like the climate consequences. Until they’re not.

The drinking water for people in greater Dakar can be far more lucrative in virtual form as alfalfa. Feed it to livestock far from West Africa, and it can be turned it into beef — and profits for investors. China’s richest person doesn’t sell software or electric vehicles; he runs a bottled water empire that’s been busy privatizing a shared natural resource. Banks, pension funds and insurers.

In this warming world, controlling water matters in new ways. It’s both a threat and an asset.

Welcome to the ninth issue of Bloomberg Green’s magazine.
Stories from the latest issue have been rolling out for the past few weeks, and everything we’ve published is now available on  this collection page. The only magazine focused on climate and the energy transition is sent to our all-access subscribers, so sign up today to receive a print edition along with full digital access to Bloomberg Green. Here are some of the highlights so far…

• Climate change is driving a global water trade you can’t see. More extreme weather is reshaping the availability of water, a commodity embedded in almost every product bought and sold in international markets.
• US airlines haven’t figured out sustainable jet fuel  and, despite loud promises, now lag far behind their European counterparts in implementing this climate fix.
• To stop trashing solar panels, one startup is smashing them. There’s a growing business in recycling the 90% of solar panels that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
• This year’s extreme heat unleashed rain like never before. What’s likely to be the hottest year on record brought never-before-seen rain to five continents, killing thousands of people and causing millions of dollars in economic losses.

• To prevent forest fires, build cities with more… wood? An entrepreneur in Washington state has a plan to reduce wildfire risks, promote low-carbon buildings and boost the local economy, all at the same time.
• The planet’s axis has shifted, and other climate science you might have missed. We read peer-reviewed science journals — so you don't have to.
• The climate scientist who would be president.  Claudia Sheinbaum, a recognized climate expert, is campaigning to succeed Mexico’s current president, a strong backer of fossil fuels. Will she cut emissions if she wins? 
• Climate change threatens 400-year-old Jamestown and its buried secrets. Archaeologists are racing to study and save the remains of North America’s first permanent English colony from rising seas and flooding.

• The US and China are inching closer on climate. Progress at the global COP28 gathering in Dubai will depend greatly on the world’s two biggest emitters and the veteran negotiators representing them.
• The bankers are back for COP28. Big-name finance chiefs are expected to turn out in force for the next UN climate summit.
• A startup is battling Big Oil for the $1 trillion future of carbon cleanup. Climeworks is a pioneer in carbon-capture technology. Can it grow quickly enough to make an impact in the climate fight?
• To meet climate goals, Gulf countries will have to overhaul everything. When Dubai hosts the COP28 climate conference, the tension between Gulf countries’ net-zero targets and reliance on fossil fuels will be front and center.

• Tracing nature’s DNA to help companies measure biodiversity impacts. The cutting-edge science could be an accountability breakthrough — or the new vanguard of greenwashing. 
• China’s richest person made billions bottling pristine water. Zhong Shanshan built his Nongfu Spring empire by extracting water from some of the country’s most ecologically important rivers and mountains.
• Nigeria is unplugging from dirty generators. An abrupt decision to end fuel subsidies is both jump-starting a solar future and making electricity more expensive in Africa’s biggest city.
• AI could give coral a fighting chance. As the ocean warms rapidly, scientists are working on a way to speed up coral restoration. But it may not be enough to save reefs.

• New technology could capture carbon and water out of thin air. Startup Avnos is piloting a machine that could help solve climate change — and adapt to impacts already in the pipeline. 
• Learn how to spot greenwashing. Companies making dubious claims about sustainability can be profitable and is a threat to environmental progress. But how do you identify greenwashing?
• Water fights in the US West inspired a whole new type of judge. Officials in Colorado, Utah and Nevada are teaching judges how to handle the growing number cases over water rights.
• New York City turned the world’s biggest garbage dump into a park. NYC opened Freshkills’ North Park in Staten Island, giving the public access to where the landfill once sat. It's a lesson for other cities.

• Beam solar energy from space? These scientists are experimenting with a space-based solar power system that would assemble itself after being launched by rockets.
• How to fathom climate change’s unfathomable numbers. People in Climate World tend to speak in statistics. But big numbers don’t always resonate, and fall short when it comes to describing humanity.
• Here’s some good news about the planet for a change. Green investments are on the rise, “climate dads” are fighting to save the Earth and more stories to brighten your day.

Road to COP

By John Ainger and Jennifer A. Dlouhy

The COP28 climate summit in Dubai later this month is perhaps the last chance for the world to change course and start cutting emissions this decade. After months of bumps and hiccups, things may be clicking into place for the meeting to make progress.

The US and China, the world’s biggest polluters, vowed to step up joint action to tackle climate change in a revival of collaboration that will be crucial for a successful COP. The bilateral deal between Washington and Beijing comes after negotiators secured a framework deal to set up a fund to help vulnerable nations deal with loss and damage from increasingly extreme weather — something that just two weeks ago looked as though it could upend the talks.

It adds up to momentum for the United Nations conference in two weeks time, which will focus on charting how far off course the world is to keeping global warming below 1.5C and what needs to be done to correct it. Key barometers for a good outcome include clear commitments on phasing out fossil fuels, while also providing funding for those countries dealing with the most severe impacts of climate change.

Continue reading this story and find out more about what to expect at COP28 on Bloomberg.com. 

In the past two decades, large food and investment companies have acquired more than 12 million hectares of African farmland. The land-buying spree, stoked by rising demand for food among the world’s growing middle class, has spurred a run on an even more precious resource: water.

One example where this is taking place is in Senegal, where an investment company is using the country’s only lake to irrigate crops it plans to send to Saudi Arabia. All the while, the taps in coastal Dakar barely trickle. Read more in today’s Big Take on Bloomberg.com.

Villagers carry water back to their homes in Lugdemiss Tableau in northern Senegal.  Photographer: Annika Hammerschlag/Bloomberg

The US plans to push for more nuclear power at COP28. A group of countries led by the US will pledge to triple the amount of installed nuclear power capacity globally by 2050, marking a major turnaround for the controversial technology at the climate negotiations.

JPMorgan has a new way to gauge green progress. The biggest US bank says it’s including zero-carbon power generation in how it measures emissions tied to its lending to oil and gas companies. It’s also calling for more action on methane leaks in the sector. 

Trees can only do so much. Protecting and restoring forests could help store billions of tons of carbon dioxide, according to a new study. But it’s not a failsafe strategy.

Weather Watch

By Brian K Sullivan

There is even a 10% chance it develops into a tropical system later, the US National Hurricane Center said. More likely conditions won’t be right for that to happen but the storm will track up the East Coast and bring rain to Maine and the Canadian Maritimes on Saturday. 

In addition to the flood threat from the rain, a high-surf advisory has been raised for Florida's southeast coast, including Miami, where waves could reach up to 10 feet and dangerous rip currents are likely. 

In other weather news:

Caribbean: In addition to the system sweeping Florida, another one in the western Caribbean has a 30% chance of spinning up into 2023’s next Atlantic storm in 48 hours, the hurricane center said. Regardless of whether it forms, it will likely bring heavy rain across the region, including Haiti, which is prone to mudslides and flooding. 

Pacific: In the South Pacific Tropical Cyclone Mal has passed by Fiji and will now weaken as it moves away from land. Elsewhere, global forecasters are watch two systems in the western Pacific to see if they will become tropical, as well as another in the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean. 

UK: Another Atlantic storm will roll in on Thursday bringing clouds and rain to the southern UK. “As we go through Thursday morning itself then, a wet and windy story across many southern areas,” said Alex Burkill, a UK Met Office meteorologist in a briefing. As much as three to four centimeters of rain could fall together with gale-force winds, he said. 

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