Businesses not prepared for global water shortage: Marsh

The worlds largest businesses are not prepared for the effects of a looming water shortage, according to research sponsored by the newly-established Marsh Center for Risk Insights.Marsh Inc., a global insurance broker and risk advisor, formed the Marsh Center for Risk Insights as a working forum for experts to identify, debate and tackle critical global business risks.The 2007 Marsh Center telephone poll of Fortune 500 company executives cited a potential water shortage as being one of the newest threats on the horizon.With less than 3% of the world’s water now reachable and fit for human consumption a figure that is shrinking 40% of Fortune 1000 companies surveyed said the impact of a water shortage would be severe or even catastrophic, Marsh Inc. noted in a press release announcing the launch of its new center.Despite this, less than one in five (17%) say they have prepared for such a crisis.The findings are based on work conducted for the Marsh Center by Public Opinion Strategies, a polling firm that spoke to senior officials from more than 100 executive suites from a cross-section of Fortune 1000 companies.Almost half of the Marsh Center survey respondents (47%) said water is critical or very important to their day-to-day operations. Nevertheless, the survey noted, only 6% believe it is likely that, in the next five to 10 years, access to water for manufacturing and drinking will be significantly reduced because of quality degradation or scarcity.”Many corporations across seemingly unrelated economic sectors are exposed to water scarcity and pollution risks, usually in their supply chains,” said Carol Browner, a founding advisor of the Marsh Center. “Changes in our global climate, along with rising consumption levels, will dramatically alter water distributions and availability over the coming decades.Businesses need to take time to identify the challenges and opportunities posed by local and regional changes in water availability.”