The scarcity of water is emerging as a global economic threat. With China and India looking the most impacted
Women fill water from a municipal tank on May 26, 2023 in the Peth Taluka village in India.
Ritesh Shukla | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Water scarcity is seen as the most significant and potentially most impactful component of the wider climate crisis, and researchers say that large Asian economies like India and China will be the most affected from these water shortages.
Asia is an industrialization hub that is experiencing the most rapid rates of urbanization, and this would require a copious amount of water, Arunabha Ghosh, the CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, told CNBC on the sidelines of Singapore’s annual Ecosperity Week last Tuesday.
“It’s not just the old industries like steel making, but newer ones like manufacturing semiconductor chips and the transition to clean energy that are going to require a lot of water,” Ghosh said. “Asia is the growth engine of the world, and these industries are new drivers for its economic growth.”
Global fresh water demand is expected to outstrip supply by 40% to 50% by 2030. Ghosh warned that water scarcity must not be viewed as a sectoral issue, but one that “transcends the entire economy.”
Asian economies “must understand that it is a regional common good and it is in their own interest to mitigate the risks that come their way in order to prevent the economic shocks that severe water scarcity will impose,” he said.
India, now the world’s most populous nation, will be the hardest hit from water scarcity. Despite holding 18% of the world’s population, it only has enough water resources for 4% of its people, hence making it the world’s most water-stressed country, the World Bank said.
The South Asian nation relies tremendously on its monsoon season to meet its water demands, but climate change has caused more floods and droughts to hit the country, and has exacerbated its water shortage.
China is in the same rocky boat
According to independent think tank the Lowy Institute, approximately 80% to 90% of China’s groundwater is unfit for consumption, while half of its aquifers are too polluted to be used for industry and farming. Fifty-percent of its river water is also unfit for drinking, and half of that is not safe for agriculture as well.
Although the world’s second-largest economy has made progress in its transition toward clean energy, its power system remains largely dependent on coal. And if there is no water, there will be no coal.
“Water is an essential input for the generation of coal power plants, and if water becomes scarcer or is not available for power generation, that plant becomes ineffective,” Ghosh highlighted.
Other developing countries in the region are in similar situations, but their water crises could be harder to solve. Countries like the Philippines are not as privileged and resilient, so there’s a “huge imbalance in the water crisis that we’re facing,” Shanshan Wang, a Singapore water business leader at sustainability consultancy Arup, said.
A villager drives a herd of sheep on the exposed bed of a reservoir on May 25, 2023 in Kunming, Yunnan Province of China.
Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images
India and China are close to seas and rivers, and are more threatened by rising sea levels, but they can afford technology and innovation for better water storage systems, Wang told CNBC on the sidelines of the Singapore International Water Week last Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Wayne Middleton, the Australasian water business leader for Arup said that “we need to stick our hand up and say that we have not recognized the value of our river systems and we have exploited them for industry uses and agriculture.” “We have only recently seen the damage that we have done,” he said.
Countries in the West won’t likely remain unscathed by the risks associated with this water crisis. Europe’s water problem is expected to get worse as resources grow increasingly scarce due to the deepening climate emergency. The region saw temperatures go through the roof in spring, after experiencing a winter heatwave that took a toll on its rivers and ski slopes.
Sectors most affected
Taiwan, home to Asia’s largest semiconductor industry, has once again succumbed to water shortages less than two years after battling the worst drought it had seen in a century. Huge amounts of water are needed to power the plants and manufacture the semiconductor chips that go into our digital devices, and supply can be hindered if shortages occur.
“Taiwan is a big user of hydropower and it always faces a dilemma on whether to store water for its semiconductor industry to utilize, or if the water should be released so they can have more hydroelectricity power,” Wang highlighted.
“Droughts and floods are both a problem for Taiwan, so the industry is unlucky and vulnerable,” she added.
However, Wang noted that although many manufacturing industries do need water to function, water is not actually being used up and could be recycled.
“Water scarcity is not particularly problematic to these industries because a lot of the water can be recycled. The process pollutes the water, and many industries might just want to dump the water directly back into the ecosystem instead of purifying and reusing it,” she said.
“Now that there is a crisis, there are opportunities for businesses to think about how to close the loop … They cannot just take whatever is available in abundance for themselves.”
Water is also playing a huge role in the planned energy transition, and the lack of water could impede countries’ transition to net-zero. In 2022, China experienced its worst heatwave and drought in six decades. Blistering temperatures dried up areas of the Yangtze River, impeding its hydroelectricity capabilities — the country’s second biggest power source.
The Gezhouba dam water conservancy project of the Yangtze River after heavy rain in Yichang, Hubei Province, China.
Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty Images
To alleviate energy risks, the country approved the highest number of new coal-fired plants since 2015 last year. Beijing authorized 106 gigawatts of new coal power capacity in 2022, four times higher than a year earlier and the equivalent of 100 large-fired power plants.
“We need a big energy transition to renewables to power our new water supplies, and we need our water supplies to be available for energy security,” Middleton said. “We need to start bringing those two conversations together a lot more.”
Economies that are heavily dependent on agriculture could also see output drop significantly and food security would be at further risk.
According to Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the value of agricultural production is expected to fall by 14% to reach $79 billion in 2023 to 2024. This is due to drier conditions that are expected to reduce crop yields from record levels in 2022 to 2023.
“We can certainly build new water supplies and provide water to industries, customers and cities in Australia, but we’re not really able to sustain enough water in longer periods of drought,” Arup’s Middleton pointed out.
“Of course we we have to make water available for our cities and our big economies and our communities, but it leaves behind a growing risk for food production and the agricultural sector,” he said.
Driverless WeRide robotaxis for Uber.
Courtesy: Uber
Uber on Wednesday rolled out fully driverless rides in its fourth market, launching the service in Abu Dhabi in partnership WeRide, a Chinese autonomous vehicle company.
The ride-hailing company said the launch in the United Arab Emirates capital represents the first driverless robotaxi service in the Middle East. In the U.S., Uber already offers robotaxi services in Austin, Phoenix and Atlanta through Alphabet’s Waymo.
Riders in Abu Dhabi can book a WeRide robotaxi when requesting an UberX or Uber Comfort ride, the ride-hailing company said.
WeRide, which is listed on the Nasdaq, formed its partnership with Uber in September 2024 and began offering autonomous rides with an operator on board in Abu Dhabi last December. Uber and WeRide also debuted robotaxi rides with a safety operator on board in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, in October. In May, Uber said it plans to roll out the WeRide service to 15 more cities, including in Europe, over the next five years.
In recent years, Uber has bet big on autonomous vehicle technology through partnerships.
Uber started offering a robotaxi service in Austin and Atlanta earlier this year, and in Phoenix in late 2023. In July, the company landed a six-year robotaxi deal with electric vehicle maker Lucid and AV startup Nuro.
WeRide, meanwhile, has launched full driverless robotaxi services in China’s Beijing and Guangzhou, according to its website.
Uber has not said how it splits revenue from robotaxi rides with its partners.
Competitors have also readily adopted the technology, with Lyft announcing a deal with Waymo in September to launch robotaxis in Nashville next year.
Uber said the driverless vehicles in Abu Dhabi will operate in certain areas of Yas Island. Riders can boost their chance of a robotaxi drive by selecting the autonomous option. On-board support is available during the ride through the app and an in-vehicle tablet.
WATCH: WeRide CEO: We are using both Tesla and Waymo’s approach to scale robotaxi operations
Amazon’s new MK30 Prime Air drone is displayed during Amazon’s “Delivering the Future” event at the company’s BFI1 Fulfillment Center, Robotics Research and Development Hub in Sumner, Washington on Oct. 18, 2023.
Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images
Amazon is facing a federal probe after one of its delivery drones downed an internet cable in central Texas last week.
The probe comes as Amazon vies to expand drone deliveries to more pockets of the U.S., more than a decade after it first conceived the aerial distribution program, and faces stiffer competition from Walmart, which has also begun drone deliveries.
The incident occurred on Nov. 18 around 12:45 p.m. Central in Waco, Texas. After dropping off a package, one of Amazon’s MK30 drones was ascending out of a customer’s yard when one of its six propellers got tangled in a nearby internet cable, according to a video of the incident viewed and verified by CNBC.
The video shows the Amazon drone shearing the wire line. The drone’s motor then appeared to shut off and the aircraft landed itself, with its propellers windmilling slightly on the way down, the video shows. The drone appeared to remain in tact beyond some damage to one of its propellers.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident, a spokesperson confirmed. The National Transportation Safety Board said the agency is aware of the incident but has not opened a probe into the matter.
Amazon confirmed the incident to CNBC, saying that after clipping the internet cable, the drone performed a “safe contingent landing,” referring to the process that allows its drones to land safely in unexpected conditions.
“There were no injuries or widespread internet service outages. We’ve paid for the cable line’s repair for the customer and have apologized for the inconvenience this caused them,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC, noting that the drone had completed its package delivery.
The incident comes after federal investigators last month opened a separate probe into a crash involving two of Amazon’s Prime Air drones in Arizona. The two aircrafts collided with a construction crane in Tolleson, a city west of Phoenix, prompting Amazon to temporarily halt drone deliveries in the area.
For over a decade, Amazon has been working to realize founder Jeff Bezos’ vision of drones whizzing toothpaste, books and other goods to customers’ doorsteps in 30 minutes or less. The company began drone deliveries in 2022 in College Station, Texas, and Lockeford, California.
But progress has been slowed by a mix of regulatory hurdles, missed deadlines and layoffs in 2023 that coincided with broader cost-cutting efforts by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.
The company has previously said its goal is to deliver 500 million packages by drone per year by the end of the decade.
The hexacopter-shaped MK30, the latest generation of Amazon’s Prime Air drone, is meant to be quieter, smaller and lighter than previous versions.
Amazon says the drones are equipped with a sense-and-avoid system that enables them to “detect and stay away from obstacles in the air and on the ground.” The company recommends that customers maintain “about 10 feet of open space” on their property so drones can complete deliveries
The company began drone deliveries in Waco earlier this month for customers within a certain radius of its same-day delivery site who order eligible items weighing 5 pounds or less. The drone deliveries are supposed to drop packages off in under an hour.
Amazon has brought other locations online in recent months, including Kansas City, Missouri, Pontiac, Michigan, San Antonio, Texas, and Ruskin, Florida. Amazon has also announced plans to expand drone deliveries to Richardson, Texas.
Walmart began offering drone deliveries in 2021, and currently partners with Alphabet’s Wing and venture-backed startup Zipline to make drone deliveries in a number of states, including in Texas.
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