Profiting In The Water Biz

A quick note from the Low Carbon Investors conference: a speaker noted, “Investing in water is a contact sport” meaning that you’re going to be dealing with individual people and communities who may not approve of what you’re doing. That certainly is a great metaphor, and it’s completely obvious that the speaker is correct here.

It calls to mind a great number of philosophic questions about common versus private property.  As I wrote here:

Though I would probably vote for a broader list than some people, I can see where the debate on this might be very interesting. Former Nestlé CEO Peter Brabeck shocked the civilized world a month or so back when he argued that water is food that should be privatized, and that it is not a human right. Here’s a very smart guy taking a position on the subject that I would (generously) describe as “fringe.” That’s a level of callous thinking that, fortunately, doesn’t wash with most people born with a conscience.