The Rising Tide of Water Risk

WATER is never far from the news these days. This summer, northern India experienced one of its heaviest monsoon seasons in 80 years, leaving more than 800 people dead and forcing another 100,000 from their homes.

Meanwhile, central Europe faced its worst flooding in decades after heavy rains swelled major rivers like the Elbe and the Danube. In the US, nearly half the country continues to suffer from drought, while heavy rainfall has broken records in the north-east, devastated crops in the south, and is now inundating Colorado.

Businesses are starting to wake up to the mounting risks that water — whether in overabundance or scarcity — can pose to their operations and bottom line. At the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, experts named water risk as one of the top four risks facing business in the 21st century.