Market News
Could the Middle East run out of water? How the UAE gets around the problem - CNBC
by Natasha Turak
The Middle East and North Africa are rich in oil and gas, but it’s witnessing a shrinking supply of one of earth’s most critical resources: water.
Twelve of the 17 most water-stressed countries in the world are in the region, according to 2019 findings from the World Resources Institute. Scientists fear shortages will get worse as the climate warms and rainfall becomes less frequent. That could lead to food shortages, mass migration and conflict.
“We are in a sustainability crisis, a climate crisis,” Dr. David Hannah, a professor of hydrology at the University of Birmingham, told CNBC. The Middle East “has very limited conventional water resources, and some of the groundwater resources are saline,” meaning they’re often unusable or need to be desalinated using expensive, energy-intensive technology.
