Adaptation through Water 2025

The third challenge – water that is too dirty – results from excess nutrients (for example, from agricultural runoff), salinity or elevated temperatures. Industrial activity is a major contributor to poor water quality worldwide, especially in regions that are less regulated. Of the three water challenges, water quality is more of an emerging problem. It is a growing concern in major cities such as Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Manila; and it is projected to worsen over the next 30 years from the cumulative effects of agricultural runoff, industrial wastewater and salinity intrusion (see Figure 9). Analysts anticipate that several countries – including Thailand, Viet Nam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia – will increasingly face deteriorating water quality as a result of economic development and lax pollution controls. 2.4 Too dirty Very low water-quality risk2020 Baseline water-quality risk 2050 Projected water-quality risk (2°C warming scenario) Very high water-quality riskWater quality is deteriorating from human activity and coastal intrusion − Thailand, Viet Nam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia are particularly at risk Water-quality risks facing Southeast Asia, 2020 vs. 2050 FIGURE 9 Note: 1. Human activity and coastal intrusion include the effects of agricultural runoff, industrial wastewater and salinization related to rising sea levels. Sources: WWF Water Risk Filter, European Commission INFORM Risk Index, BCG analysis.16 Four of these five countries – Thailand, Viet Nam, the Philippines and Indonesia – collect very little wastewater as a percentage of their population compared to Singapore and Malaysia, the region’s leaders in wastewater management, which collect 100% and 68%, respectively (see Figure 10). However, all of these countries have water resilience strategies that include water circularity and integrated water-resource management. A key system improvement would be expanding the connections to treatment plants as well as their capacity. Adaptation through Water: Mobilizing the Private Sector for Climate Adaptation in Southeast Asia 15