Change is never easy and seldom welcomed, but it is again upon us as a nation. Like it or not there are some fundamental truths that we need to start dealing with if we are to reach our full economic potential. Four truths are particularly ugly, but given their importance to us collectively, we need to confront them with wisdom and clear heads. These are:
First, South Africa has reached the limit of its readily available water at a high assurance of supply and we are now transitioning to a future economy that is supply-constrained.
Second, South Africa has reached the limit of its coal-based energy resources and we are transitioning to a future in which we will be forced to rethink our national energy security.
Third, for reasons that are complex and historically sensitive, South Africa is transitioning to a future that will be increasingly food insecure. Part of the problem is associated with endemic water scarcity, but another part is related to the unintended consequences of inadequately regulated mining and the political imperative of land reform.
Fourth, the weather in South Africa is delicately balanced between major global systems over which we have no direct control. The best available science suggests that in all probability ambient air temperatures will increase over the next century by about 4°C. This will have major implications for our rainfall patterns.
Higher temperatures will mean increased evaporative losses and proliferation of toxic blue-green algae that already affect one-third of the total volume of water we have available at national level.
So is this a doom and gloom story? The simple answer is no.
On the contrary, change unlocks innovation that in turn increases efficiency and creates opportunities. If I gaze into my crystal ball these are some of the changes and opportunities I see.
For starters stewardship is here with us. In fact stewardship over water is probably one of the most appropriate responses to the water-energy-food-climate nexus, because it embeds new thinking at all levels of management.
Stewardship programmes assist executives in getting a handle on this elusive resource and rapidly enable management interventions to be developed.
The second opportunity comes from rethinking our national water, energy and food security at regional level rather than at national level. This creates a larger basket of potential benefits to be shared, but it also unlocks a larger range of beneficiaries and thus markets.
The third opportunity that we cannot miss is the capital investment into sewage treatment. Sewage works of the future will differ fundamentally from what we have today, with the recovery of water being the major priority. This will become the foundation of a recycling economy driven by stewardship programmes in which water of different qualities and different costs will be used for different processes.
South Africa is famous for its inherent creativity and experience has shown that this often comes in response to crises from which we cannot escape.
The water-energy-food-climate nexus is one such crisis that we can turn into an opportunity.
Anthony Turton is the trustee of the Water Stewardship Council Trust of Southern Africa. To learn more about these and other critical issues involving the water-energy-food-climate nexus, attend the second South African Water, Energy & Food Forum at the Sandton Convention Centre on April 18 and 19. See www.sawef.co.za.