Posted by: Saving Water SA (Cape Town, South Africa) – partnered with Water Rhapsody conservation systems – 31 Aug 2011

Further embedding its commitment to environmental sustainability, the Nedbank Group is to invest R9 million into the innovative WWF Water Balance Programme. Water is widely acknowledged as South Africa’s scarcest resource and the one that will be the most impacted by climate change. Nedbank’s increased focus on water is a key part of their climate change response strategy and underpins the urgent need to tackle climate change impacts as will be addressed at COP17 in Durban later this year.

Wattles have taken over more than 1.6-million hectares of South Africa

WWF estimates that around 98% of South Africa’s freshwater supplies are currently allocated and that demand will outstrip supply by 2025, jeopardising economic growth that is vital for ongoing socio-economic development.

‘Through our provision of water infrastructure funding, our 20-year involvement with The Green Trust and our own sustainability initiatives, we have invested in a range of water-related projects in line with our water stewardship programme, which addresses water scarcity, water quality and access to water. This new multi-million rand investment raises our water stewardship efforts to a much higher and more impactful level,” said Mike Brown, Nedbank’s CEO.

Dr Deon Nel, head of WWF’s Biodiversity Unit, said that WWF has identified the availability of water and the health of water provisioning catchments as one of the most critical challenges facing South Africa.

Nedbank’s investment will fund the removal of alien invasive species, which is estimated to release more than 550,000 kilolitres of water a year, back into two of SA’s high priority water catchment areas. Continue reading Nedbank invests in SA’s water