In some areas, population explosion has exhausted freshwater supplies, and globally the impacts of a warming climate have caused the slow depletion of the freshwater resources available. The search for solutions to freshwater scarcity has intensified and led some municipalities to explore desalination, or the process of turning saltwater into freshwater, as one potential solution.

PGIM Fixed Income’s Taylor Chatlos, ESG Specialist, and Michael Slonim, Municipal Bond Credit Research Analyst, join this episode of Fixed on ESG to provide a complete look at desalination for investors: what it entails; the environmental and social costs and benefits; how we evaluate a desalination credit differently from a run-of-the-mill water utility; and how we integrate these considerations into our investment process when looking at municipal deals.

Recorded on May 31, 2023.