French villas get a rain check

Welcome back to the Strawman, the daily climate newsletter that reminds you the fight against climate change is kinda like learning to swim - best to get started early.

In today’s newsletter, we’re looking at what’s likely a surprising bellweather for the future of water - private swimming pools in France.

Let’s dive in.

Betting on a water crisis

Getting the obvious stuff out of the way, water’s pretty important. So important, that Michael Burry (the guy that made $800m betting the housing market crash in ‘08) told the writers of The Big Short that all of his investing after the ‘08 crash was focused on water.

Big stuff. The way he decides to invest in water? Food. Investing in food grown in water-rich areas that will need to be transported to water-poor areas.

One smart cookie huh?

Crises in strange places

Most people have some baseline expectations about where water shortages might happen. Landlocked regions, places with super high temperatures, and and arid areas are all great guesses.

The latest crisis is instead set in the luxury setting of Southern France.

Imagine this: you’re at your summer home, sipping on a glass of the finest French wines by your pool… which is empty.

Huh?

Callian, the medieval hilltop town known for Christian Dior, blooming flowers, and potentially the highest swimming pool per capita ratio in the world (one swimming pool for every 4 people???) is facing a two year drought.

The splashdown is real, folks.

Mayors across nine towns have started to ration water and slapped bans on new home and pool construction for five years.

Understandably, it’s the holiday homes causing the issue. The biggest culprits? VIPs, prime ministers, and royalty, including Italian Senators and Belgium's ex-king. That would be one helluva pool party.

It's not just France though; water scarcity is a global issue, with the UN predicting that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity.

Although it’s easy to laugh at rich people having no pool to splash around in this summer, there’s something interesting to be said here about what happens when push comes to shove in the race for resources.

France put its foot down prioritising locals over tourists - we’ll have to see who else does the same.

‘Til tomorrow,

The Strawman