FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
Highlighting the link with agriculture, Saudi Arabia made headlines in late 2011 when it announced that the government would stop buying wheat from local farmers by 2016, as part of a drive to reduce farming and conserve limited water resources.
This move is the most recent acknowledgement of a familiar problem: Saudi Arabia is using its groundwater 10 times more quickly than it can be replenished. The Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) nations consume an average of 850 cubic metres of water per capita each year, compared to a global average of about 500 cubic metres and a UK average of 165 (source: Financial Times, 5 October 2011). They have also considered nuclear desalination plants with a view to them being on-line by 2020. ...
Get Mastering the Commodities Markets now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
