Singapore, sustainable water management

According to the latest United Nations report, 3.6 billion people face inadequate access to water for about one month each year. A worrisome number that is associated with additional pressures related to climate change. This phenomenon is visible not only internationally but also looking locally.

In Italy we are already talking about 15 percent of the population living in areas at risk of extreme drought. Exacerbating the situation are the low rainfall and snowfall in recent years, which are endangering millions of people for whom drinking water from the tap is in danger of no longer being guaranteed.

And it is precisely the sustainable management of water and sanitation that is at the center of the narrative of the thirteenth chapter of BG4SDGs - Time to Change. On this occasion, the photographer alongside the initiative - Stefano Guindani - traveled to Singapore to investigate the situation regarding Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 6 for universal and equitable access to safe drinking water for all.

The well-known city-state within the Malaysian peninsula now represents for most experts a successful model among 21st century cities. Indeed, the focus falls precisely on how to manage more limited resources such as water in favor of a long-term vision and economic growth that benefits citizens and the community.

Despite its heavy dependence on neighboring Malaysia and limited land area, Singapore is trying to get the most out of its water front through an innovative technology that has been given the name NEWater. It is a wastewater purification system that uses sophisticated membranes and ultraviolet lights to transform the collected water into potable water suitable for private and industrial purposes.

But not only water purification. In fact, the plant also pays attention to the high technological standard of minimizing energy waste in wastewater treatment, which turns out to be an energy-intensive activity with consumption now reaching 3 percent of the world's total energy production and contributing more than 1.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

NEWater thus stands, according to the bank led by CEO Gian Maria Mossa, as a testament to how it is possible to reverse the course of climate change by making progress in combating the scarcity of the most precious commodity on our Planet, necessary for life: water.

The photo project is part of a path, that of sustainability, undertaken by the private bank as early as 2019 with the launch of a platform dedicated to sustainable investments capable of providing an in-depth assessment of the level of sustainability of individual investment products chosen by Clients, reinforced then by the challenging goals of the Strategic Plan 2022-24 announced last year with an ESG AUM response growing to 32 percent of total managed solutions.