30 August 2019 – China Water Risk guest authors new report for CLSA U®, “Thirsty and underwater: Rising risks in the Greater Bay Area”. The Greater Bay Area (GBA) is slated for ambitious growth in China’s 13th Five Year Plan (2016-2020) yet water risks and climate threats could sink its dreams. As early as 2030, these rising risks could threaten key sectors that drive the region’s GDP, which was US$1.6trn in 2018. With the GBA’s GDP estimated to grow to US$4.6trn by 2030, the report warns that careful water-nomic planning and cohesive resilience strategies are needed for a “thirsty & underwater” future.

Here are some of the key aspects covered in the report:

• The water resource per capita of 8 GBA cities makes them as dry as the Middle East. Find out which cities are most at risk.
• Low lying areas are vulnerable to climate threats brought on by storm surges and sea level rise. The report analyses how the GBA’s key sectors (finance, logistics, real estate and entertainment) could be hit.
• Geospatial mapping shows that assets such as ports, airports, casinos and real estate will be affected while key energy assets could be protected by sea walls.
• Find out how to build more realistic storm surge scenarios – the report highlights that granularity makes a difference to which areas and assets are affected.
• The report compares what the Guangdong, Macao and Hong Kong governments are doing to reduce these risks – find out who needs to do more.

The report also examines the exposure of four companies:

• Hongkong Land
• Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing
• Cathay Pacific Airways
• Hutchison Port Holdings

Find out which of these companies could be impacted by as early as 2030.

“With this guide, we hope both to illustrate why this is imperative and pressing, and what investors and companies can do to start preparing for the inevitable.” Charles Yonts, CLSA

“It doesn’t matter whether you are a government, a company or an investor, you must have climate strategies that make sense. If you are not aggressively decarbonising, adaptation must be seriously stepped up; otherwise you are planning to fail” Debra Tan, CWR

“Given the unmistakeable risks, it was shocking to see that the companies had no real disclosure on the risks faced nor adaptation plans to mitigate such water and climate threats.” Dharisha Mirando, CWR

The report urges investors to get on top of rising risks. Click here to access the report. Please note that the report is accessible to professional investors only. A review of key findings can be found in the following articles.

       

Report Access: professional investors only
To access the report, please contact: [email protected]
Charles Yonts, Head of Power and ESG Research, CLSA Securities