As pressure mounts on the world's limited water resources, individuals, industries and governments will all have to start managing our shared water resources more efficiently. There is clearly a role for business to offer innovative solutions.

The global water industry is estimated at $400 billion a year and is expected to increase to $1.6 trillion US in the next ten years⁶. Consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton estimates that $22.6 trillion must be invested in global water infrastructure alone over the next 25 years.

As a financial services company, we have a role in providing credit and financial advice to companies and clients of all sizes that are taking advantage of opportunities to:

• repair or replace aging pipes and water mains;
• develop energy-smart technologies for reusing, recycling and treating water;
• provide smarter systems for water management;
• create desalination and energy-efficient water technologies; or
• consult on water efficiency in food production and manufacturing, to name just a few.

Projects and Partnerships

The RBC Blue Water Project™ actively searches for and supports initiatives geared to business solutions to the world's water challenges.

Imagine H2O

We are a founding sponsor of the Imagine H2O Prize competition. This competition, with prizes of cash and in-kind services, encourages business plans that promise the greatest breakthroughs in the efficient use and supply of water in agricultural, commercial, industrial or residential applications. In addition to the cash prize, winners will be placed in an ecosystem of talent to help start commercially viable water solutions, with business consulting, legal support and access to a network of partners, customers and financiers to help bring their ideas to market.

Blue Economy Initiative

We are a founding partner of the Blue Economy Initiative, a two-year venture launched in 2011 that will make a clear case for the critical role water plays in Canada's economy. The Blue Economy Initiative will provide information to Canadians and key decision makers about the economic benefits of protecting Canada’s fresh water, and the economic risks of neglecting the health of our watersheds. Its goal is to create an upswell of support for sustainable water management in Canada. Its first milestone will be the fall of 2011, with the release of a ground-breaking economic study of the contribution of water to the Canadian economy , authored by Canada's foremost water economists Steven Renzetti and Diane Dupont, and award-winning journalist, Chris Wood.