Author: Kristina Kirfel
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3640958918
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : de
Pages : 21
Get Book Here
Book Description
Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2010 im Fachbereich VWL - Umweltökonomie, Note: 1,3, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Environmental and Resource Economics), Veranstaltung: Land and Water Management, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Water is distributed unevenly over the globe, making it scarce in many regions of the world. This scarcity is projected to increase significantly due to rapid population growth and increasing per capita affluence, leading to higher per capita water consumption. Global climate change may be an additional factor intensifying water shortness in some regions due to an increasing number of drought events. As water scarcity immediately effects agricultural production, food supply is at risk of becoming insecure in countries poorly endowed with water. ALLAN introduced the concept of virtual water in mid 1990s, stressing that import of food crops and thereby of virtual water could be the solution to water scarcity and food insecurity in water deficient countries (see ALLAN, 1996). Meanwhile, the trade of virtual water is strongly promoted in the water resources literature as a policy tool serving to enhance global water use efficiency, release pressure on nations’ short water resources, ensure food security, and even to prevent wars over water (see ALLAN, 1998, p.545). This is supported by the suggestion that food staples are readily available on the world market at prices undercutting the costs of production (see ALLAN, 1996, p.1, YANG AND ZEHNDER, 2002, p.1422). Following its potential benefits, ALLAN even called it ‘‘the dream solution in water-stressed economies’’ (see ALLAN, 2002, cited in ROTH AND WARNER, 2007, p.258). This paper aims at calling attention to the limitations of the concept and the adverse effects virtual water trade can have on the exporting aswell as on the importing countries. While the implementation of virtual water trade may lead to the desired outcome in terms of water savings, it may be socially, economically, and environmentally detrimental, if its many implications are not taken into account and economic and social adjustments to it are lacking. The paper is structured as follows: in chapter 2, the concept of virtual water will be explained by its definition and application to international trade, thereby highlighting its potential in water saving. Chapter 3 is devoted to the analysis of the relationship between water scarcity and virtual water trade, showing that water scarcity is only in few cases the driver of importing water-intensive commodities. [...]
Author: Chittaranjan Ray
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000732169
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 182
Get Book Here
Book Description
Virtual Water explores the role of "virtual water" – the water embedded in a product – in ongoing conversations of agriculture, trade and sustainability in an increasingly inter-connected world. A pervasive theme throughout the book is the general lack of knowledge of the use of water in producing and consuming food. The chapters, arising from a workshop supported by the OECD Co-operative Research Programme: Biological Resources Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, on virtual water, agriculture and trade at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, consider questions of gaps in knowledge, why sustainability matters and the policy implications of virtual water trade. Contributors show how water is a lens through which to examine an array of vital issues facing humanity and the planet: human and animal health; food production; environmental management; resource consumption; climate change adaptation and mitigation; economic development, trade and competitiveness; and ethics and consumer trust. Virtual Water will be of great interest to scholars of water, resource management and consumption, the environmental aspects of development, agriculture and food production. It originally published as a special issue of Water International.
Author: Schaldach, Ruth
Publisher: kassel university press GmbH
ISBN: 3737607788
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 252
Get Book Here
Book Description
Virtual water trade increased with globalisation. However, this trade does not always flow in such direction, that water abundant regions supply water scarce regions with water intense products. Often the opposite happens and depletive water trade intensifies causing water scarcity. This work focuses on the Water-Energy-Soil-Trade-Nexus with each element seen as a materialisation of discourses. Two cases illustrate specific parts of the Nexus, firstly, the close relationship of market liberalisation, foreign direct investment and virtual water trade is represented with Viet Nam’s Doi Moi policy and rapid economic growth. Secondly, the water-energy dimension linkages are drawn by following the case of hydraulic fracturing from the U.S. to Australia’s gas drills embedded in a global perspective. This work helps to understand especially cases, where virtual water trade dries out water resources in already vulnerable areas.
Author: Alberto Garrido
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1441957413
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 160
Get Book Here
Book Description
1.1 General Framework In most arid and semi-arid countries, water resource management is an issue that is both important and controversial. Most water resources experts now acknowledge that water conflicts are not caused by physical scarcity but are mainly due to poor water management (Rosegrant et al. 2002; Benoit and Comeau 2005; Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture 2007; Garrido and Dinar 2010, among others). The scientific and technological advances of the past 50 years have led to new ways to solve many water-related conflicts, often with tools that seemed unthinkable a few decades ago (Llamas 2005; Lopez-Gunn and Llamas 2008). This study deals with the estimation and analysis of Spain’s water footprint, both from a hydrological and economic perspective. Its ultimate objective is to report on the allocative efficiency of water and economic resources. This analysis can provide a transparent and multidisciplinary framework for informing and optimising water policy decisions, contributing at the same time to the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC). It also responds to the current mandate of the Spanish Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, which recently issued instructions for drafting river basin management plans in compliance with the EU Water Framework Directive, with a deadline of end of year 2009 and then every 6 years (BOE 2008).
Author: Tony Allan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857720112
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 384
Get Book Here
Book Description
The groundbreaking new concept that reveals the true and hazardous extent of our everyday water consumption. How much water does it take to make a cup of coffee? The answer may shock you: 140 litres! That's the true amount of water used in growing, producing, packaging and shipping the beans you use to make your morning coffee. Your lunchtime hamburger takes 2,400 litres and that favourite pair of blue jeans a whopping 11,000 litres. In fact, all the goods we buy - from food to clothing to computers - have a water cost in the form of virtual water: the powerful new concept that reveals the hidden facts of our real water consumption. At a time when the world's resources are being used up at increasingly alarming rates what can we do to help tackle the threat to our planet's most precious resource? World water expert Tony Allan - creator of the virtual water concept - shows the way. In this stimulating and enjoyable book he exposes the real impact of our modern lifestyle and shows how we as individuals, and governments globally, can make a vital contribution to managing our water use in a more sustainable and planet-friendly way.
Author: Marta Antonelli
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Get Book Here
Book Description
The concept of virtual water refers to the volume of water used in the production of a commodity or a service. The concept was identified by the geographer Tony Allan in the early 1990s, to draw attention on the global economic processes that ameliorate local water deficits in the MENA region and elsewhere. Since its inception, the virtual water concept has inspired a flourishing literature on how to address global water resource scarcity vis-à-vis commodity production and consumption in a variety of disciplines, but also has been the object of a number of critiques. Against this backdrop, the aim of the study is, first, to conduct a thorough review of the conceptual definition of the concept, its critics and applications. Secondly, to analyse its theoretical underpinnings and, in particular, its relationship with economic theory. The study argues that, despite not being a policy tool itself, the virtual water concept can reveal aspects related to production, consumption and trade in goods which monetary indicators do not capture. Its potential as an indicator for informing decision-making in water management and policy, as well as commodity trade policy, still has to be fully unfolded.
Author: Ermanno Affuso
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 20
Get Book Here
Book Description
The concept of virtual water - the amount of water used during the entire production chain of goods - represents a new tool for policymakers in water-scarce countries to shape policies in ways that improve water use efficiency. The present study extends work on the virtual water concept by testing a causality relationship between national water savings and economic growth of a water scarce country. Results of this study are twofold: (1) average annual precipitations explain the virtual water trade pattern in Mexico, and (2) there exists a Granger-causality relationship between agricultural and industrial growth and the annual volume of water saved in Mexico due to its acquisition of water-intensive crops from its North American Free Trade Agreement partners - Canada and the United States.
Author:
Publisher: vdf Hochschulverlag AG
ISBN: 9783728124876
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 300
Get Book Here
Book Description
Author: Maite M. Aldaya
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136538526
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Get Book Here
Book Description
People use lots of water for drinking, cooking and washing, but significantly more for producing things such as food, paper and cotton clothes. The water footprint is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer. Indirect use refers to the 'virtual water' embedded in tradable goods and commodities, such as cereals, sugar or cotton. The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business. This book offers a complete and up-to-date overview of the global standard on water footprint assessment as developed by the Water Footprint Network. More specifically it: o Provides a comprehensive set of methods for water footprint assessment o Shows how water footprints can be calculated for individual processes and products, as well as for consumers, nations and businesses o Contains detailed worked examples of how to calculate green, blue and grey water footprints o Describes how to assess the sustainability of the aggregated water footprint within a river basin or the water footprint of a specific product o Includes an extensive library of possible measures that can contribute to water footprint reduction
Author: Meng Xu
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 981150234X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 149
Get Book Here
Book Description
Based on the water footprint (WF) concept, this book reviews WF-based water stress evaluation methods at the city, provincial and river basin levels respectively. In addition, it explores the factors that influence regional water footprint in the spatial sequence via the extended STIRPAT model. Highlighting the utilization of WF accounting in sustainable water management, one of the book’s goals is to establish the optimization model of water allocation in various industrial sectors. Based on WF accounting, which thoroughly considers the water input for production, the relevant intermediate water inputs, and the water amount for wastewater discharge dilutions, the book provides a wealth of insights for scholars and practitioners with an interest in water resources and environmental management. In addition, it exhibits a scientific plan for regional water resource utilization and allocation, helping relieve regional water shortages.
