Spatially explicit assessment of water embodied in European trade: A product-level multi-regional input-output analysis

Lutter, Stephan; Pfister, Stephan; Giljum, Stefan; Wieland, Hanspeter; Mutel, Christopher

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.03.001

Cited by 105 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…These results were confirmed by Lutter et al [53]. They assessed the water footprints of total final demand in the EU-27 on a detailed product level and spatial scale, and found that the EU-27 import large volumes of green and blue virtual water, far exceeding the water used for domestic purposes.…”

Section: Name Description Referencessupporting

confidence: 57%

Managing Water Sustainability: Virtual Water Flows and Economic Water Productivity Assessment of the Wine Trade between Italy and the Balkans

Miglietta

Morrone

2018

Sustainability

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Abstract:The management of natural resources in economic activities has become a fundamental issue when considering the perspective of sustainable development. It is necessary to rethink every process in order to reach efficiency from different points of view, not only environmentally but also economically. Water scarcity is growing because of economic and population growth, climate change, and the increasing water demand. Currently, agri-food represents the most water consumptive sector, and the increasing importance of international trade in this industry puts freshwater issues in a global context that should be analyzed and regulated by sustainable policies. This analysis is focused on virtual water flows and economic water productivity related to the wine trade, and aims to evaluate water loss/savings achieved through bilateral trade relations. The choice fell on Italy, the first wine producer in the world, and the Balkan countries. The latter are new markets for wine production/consumption, in which Italian wines are strongly positioned for different reasons. The results show that, from a national point of view and considering wine trade, Italy exports water in virtual form to the Balkan countries, more than it imports, so that in effect it partially uses its own water resources for the wine supply of the Balkans. The latter, on the other hand, being a net importer of wine, partially depends on Italian water resources and exerts less pressure on their own water basins in the supporting wine supply. We also observed that the wine trade between Italy and the Balkans implies global water savings.

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Section: Name Description Referencessupporting

confidence: 57%

Managing Water Sustainability: Virtual Water Flows and Economic Water Productivity Assessment of the Wine Trade between Italy and the Balkans

Miglietta

Morrone

2018

Sustainability

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“…This indicator is used to account for anthropogenic water appropriation (Lutter et al. ), but does not account for its contribution to water stress (Yang et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth in Environmental Footprints and Environmental Impacts Embodied in Trade: Resource Efficiency Indicators from EXIOBASE3

Wood

Stadler

Simas

et al. 2018

J of Industrial Ecology

166

117

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SummaryMost countries show a relative decoupling of economic growth from domestic resource use, implying increased resource efficiency. However, international trade facilitates the exchange of products between regions with disparate resource productivity. Hence, for an understanding of resource efficiency from a consumption perspective that takes into account the impacts in the upstream supply chains, there is a need to assess the environmental pressures embodied in trade. We use EXIOBASE3, a new multiregional input-output database, to examine the rate of increase in resource efficiency, and investigate the ways in which international trade contributes to the displacement of pressures on the environment from the consumption of a population. We look at the environmental pressures of energy use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, material use, water use, and land use. Material use stands out as the only indicator growing in both absolute and relative terms to population and gross domestic product (GDP), while land use is the only indicator showing absolute decoupling from both references. Energy, GHG, and water use show relative decoupling. As a percentage of total global environmental pressure, we calculate the net impact displaced through trade rising from 23% to 32% for material use (1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011), 23% to 26% for water use, 20% to 29% for energy use, 20% to 26% for land use, and 19% to 24% for GHG emissions. The results show a substantial disparity between trade-related impacts for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and non-OECD countries. At the product group level, we observe the most rapid growth in environmental footprints in clothing and footwear. The analysis points to implications for future policies aiming to achieve environmental targets, while fully considering potential displacement effects through international trade.

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“…The product resolution, however, is often low as highlighted in Feng et al (2012) and for example all agricultural goods are usually considered as a bulk or classified in few categories. Recent efforts in the MRIO analyses of water footprint are oriented to improving the product resolution (Lutter et al 2016).…”

Section: Box 2 the Water Footprint Calculationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global virtual water trade and the hydrological cycle: patterns, drivers, and socio-environmental impacts

D’Odorico

Carr

Dalin

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

150

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The increasing global demand for farmland products is placing unprecedented pressure on the global agricultural system and its water resources. Many regions of the world, that are affected by a chronic water scarcity relative to their population, strongly depend on the import of agricultural commodities and associated embodied (or virtual) water. The globalization of water through virtual water trade (VWT) is leading to a displacement of water use and a disconnection between human populations and the water resources they rely on. Despite the recognized importance of these phenomena in reshaping the patterns of water dependence through teleconnections between consumers and producers, their effect on global and regional water resources has just started to be quantified. This review investigates the global spatiotemporal dynamics, drivers, and impacts of VWT through an integrated analysis of surface water, groundwater, and root-zone soil moisture consumption for agricultural production; it evaluates how virtual water flows compare to the major 'physical water fluxes' in the Earth System; and provides a new reconceptualization of the hydrologic cycle to account also for the role of water redistribution by the hidden 'virtual water cycle'.

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Spatially explicit assessment of water embodied in European trade: A product-level multi-regional input-output analysis

Cited by 105 publications

References 38 publications

Managing Water Sustainability: Virtual Water Flows and Economic Water Productivity Assessment of the Wine Trade between Italy and the Balkans

Managing Water Sustainability: Virtual Water Flows and Economic Water Productivity Assessment of the Wine Trade between Italy and the Balkans

Growth in Environmental Footprints and Environmental Impacts Embodied in Trade: Resource Efficiency Indicators from EXIOBASE3

Global virtual water trade and the hydrological cycle: patterns, drivers, and socio-environmental impacts

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