Water investment outlook still murky

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – When it comes to water, it is pretty clear to investors that a growing global shortage will bring in new business opportunities.

But while venture capitalists and private equity investors told the Reuters’ Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit that water could potentially be a very big deal, they are not yet taking the plunge.

Their investments in alternative energies — in wind, solar or electric vehicles — are beginning to pay off handsomely. But for all the worries over water supplies, from California to the Middle East to China, water may not be in the next wave of big global warming-related investments.

For one, the politics of water can be very murky, whether it is over local water rights or cross-border rivers. And then there just are not enough companies out there with revolutionary technologies that light up investors’ eyes.

Reuters