Document summary
As part of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's research on global megatrends, this report updates BAML's thematic analysis on water. Water scarcity is a pressing people and planet issue – 768m people have no access to clean drinking water and 2.5bn have no access to proper sanitation. Freshwater accounts for only 2.5% of global water – and we have already reached peak water. Increasing water demand, water pollution and water stress mean that demand is set to overshoot supply by 40% in the next 20 years.