Global Markets Institute (Goldman Sachs) Conference on Water Scarcity

Goldman Sachs on Water Scarcity - Irish Times article:

"There is a gathering scientific consensus, the conference concluded, that water is the key conduit through which climate change affects world energy and agricultural markets, reinforcing the structure of rising food prices.

The challenges are most acute in emerging economies where agriculture contributes a large share of national GDP, and average incomes are low."

The article discusses the importance of the Himalayas - as the source of water for all the major river basins in Asia (Ganges, Yellow, Yangtze) and as a sponge which holds rainwater which would otherwise flood through Asia removing critical topsoil.

But as Goldman Sachs is hosting this forum, note the identification of "conflict between private capital and public services" in harnessing water - "Development activists like the Latin American Solidarity Centre here campaign against the inclusion of water in any new free trade agreement between the EU and Latin American states."