“水將比石油更昂貴”

Water will become more valuable than oil as rising demand from people, industries and agriculture puts pressure on supplies, according to the chief executive of Suez, the French utility.

法國公用事業(yè)公司蘇伊士(Suez)的首席執(zhí)行官稱，水將比石油更昂貴，原因是人類、工業(yè)和農業(yè)不斷上升的需求將給水的供應帶來壓力。

Jean-Louis Chaussade, whose company agreed this month to buy General Electric’s water unit for $3.4bn, said water scarcity posed one of the biggest challenges facing industries such as chemicals, drugs, mining and energy.

讓-路易•肖薩德(Jean-Louis Chaussade)的公司本月同意以34億美元收購通用電氣(GE)水務部門，他表示水資源稀缺是化工、制藥、采礦和能源等行業(yè)面臨的最大挑戰(zhàn)之一。

Asked whether water would one day be a more valuable commodity than oil, Mr Chaussade told the Financial Times: “In future, probably yes.”

當被問及有一天水會不會成為比石油更昂貴的大宗商品時，肖薩德對英國《金融時報》說：“在未來，答案很可能是肯定的。”

He cited projections that by 2035 40 per cent of the world population will live in areas facing water scarcity. This would put companies in competition with people and agriculture for supplies.

他援引了一些預測，這些預測認為到2035年40%的世界人口將生活在缺水地區(qū)。這將使企業(yè)與人和農業(yè)競爭水的供應。

“Governments are saying to industries: ‘You can operate here but you can’t take water from underground’,” Mr Chaussade said. “Companies will have to rely on waste-water recycling or desalination plants to meet their needs.”

“政府在對產業(yè)說：‘你可以在這里經營，但你不能從地下抽水’，”肖薩德表示，“企業(yè)將不得不依賴廢水循環(huán)或者海水淡化工廠來滿足自身需求。”

Mr Chaussade said the €95bn market for industrial water services was set to expand at an annual rate of 5 per cent over the long term — outpacing global economic growth of about 3 per cent.

肖薩德表示，從長期來看，950億歐元的工業(yè)用水服務市場將以5%的年度增幅擴大——超過約3%的全球經濟增長率。

Suez’s investment in industrial water contrasts with efforts by its biggest shareholder, Engie, the French energy group, to exit oil and gas production and coal-fired power generation as the world shifts beyond fossil fuels.

Suez對工業(yè)用水的投資與其最大股東、法國能源集團Engie形成了對照，隨著世界逐漸轉向化石燃料以外的能源，后者正在退出石油和天然氣生產以及燃煤發(fā)電。

Industrial water services provide a bigger opportunity for Suez than its traditional municipal business, he added, because industries account for a fifth of global use compared with 5 per cent for humans. The rest is used by agriculture.

他補充道，比起Suez傳統(tǒng)的市政用水業(yè)務，工業(yè)用水服務給予了Suez更大的機會，因為工業(yè)用水占全球用水的五分之一，相比之下人類用水占5%。剩下部分是農業(yè)用水。

GE Water helps companies including ExxonMobil, Pfizer and Nestlé manage treatment and consumption of water.

通用電氣的水公司GE Water幫助埃克森美孚(Exxon Mobil)、輝瑞(Pfizer)和雀巢(Nestlé)等公司管理水的處理和使用。

About half of the US company’s revenues come from the US but Mr Chaussade said the strongest growth potential was in developing economies, especially China.

這家美國公司約一半的收入來自美國，但肖薩德表示，發(fā)展中經濟體的增長潛力最強，尤其是中國。

Suez agreed to buy the GE unit in partnership with Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, a Canadian pension fund manager.

Suez同意與加拿大養(yǎng)老基金管理公司魁北克儲蓄投資集團(Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec)合作收購這家通用電氣子公司。