water footprint assessment: optimizing water use for social, environmental & economic benefits...
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Water Footprint Assessment: optimizing water use for social,
environmental & economic benefits
The Water We Eat
Brussels, Belgium
13 April 2011
Mission ~ Promoting sustainable, equitable and efficient water use through:
1. Developing standards for WF assessment;
2. Facilitating R&D related to the WF concept;
3. Promoting WF knowledge exchange & dissemination;
4. Developing WF assessment practical tools; and
5. Supporting organisations in applying a WF assessment and developing a sustainable and fair water policy
The Water Footprint Network
143 partners from 34 countries:
bringing together expertise from academia, businesses, investment banks, civil society, governments and international organisations.
Founding partners:
WWF
International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group)
Netherlands Water Partnership
UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education
University of Twente
Water Neutral Foundation
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Water footprint network
GLOBAL WATER FOOTPRINT STANDARD
“Forty years down the road we will have 9 billion humans living on the Earth. Nearly fifty per cent more than what we have today. The impact of any activity, be it economic or social, will have an unprecedented print on water. It is, therefore, critical that policy makers and the public, let alone the political community, are aware of what the water footprint is, how it is established and how it does evolve in time and space.”
Professor A. Szollosi-Nagy, Rector, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education
► The WF is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer.
► Water use is measured in terms of water volumes consumed (evaporated or otherwise not returned) or polluted per unit of time.
► The water footprint is a geographically and temporally explicit indicator, not only showing volumes of water consumption and pollution, but also the locations.
► A water footprint can be calculated for a process, a product, a consumer, group of consumers (e.g. municipality, province, state or nation) or a producer (e.g. a public organization, private enterprise).
The water footprint concept
Operational water footprint• the direct water use by the producer – for producing,
manufacturing or for supporting activities.
Supply-chain water footprint• the indirect water use in the producer’s supply chain.
Direct & indirect water footprint
Green water footprint
► volume of rainwater evaporated.
Blue water footprint
► volume of surface or groundwater evaporated.
Grey water footprint
► volume of polluted water.
Three water footprints
Direct water footprint Indirect water footprint
Green water footprint Green water footprint
Blue water footprint Blue water footprint
Grey water footprint Grey water footprint
Water
consumption
Water
pollution
[Hoekstra et al., 2011]
Return flow
Water withdrawal
The traditionalstatistics
on water use
Components of a water footprint
The water footprint of a consumer
Indirect WF Direct WF
bluewateruse
greywater
Farmer RetailerFood
processer
Virtualwaterflow
Virtualwaterflow
Virtualwaterflow
greenandbluewateruse
bluewateruse
greywater
greywater
Consumer
bluewateruse
greywater
[Hoekstra, 2008]
Coherence in water footprint accounts
add product water footprintsof all products produced
Water footprint of a group of consumers
Water footprint of a group of producers (e.g. a
sector)
Water footprint within a geographically delineated
area
Water footprint of a producer (business,
company)
Product water footprints
Process water footprints
Water footprint of consumer
add product water footprintsof all products consumed
add process water footprints of allprocesses in a production system of a product
add process water footprintsof all processes occurring within the area
[Hoekstra et al., 2011]
[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]
[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]
283 Mm3/yr
485 Mm3/yr
3467 Mm3/yr
165 Mm3/yr
Green water footprint Million m3/yr
186 Mm3/yr
325 Mm3/yr
EU25's impact on green water resources
Water footprint of EU’s cotton consumption (green water)
[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]
Blue water footprint Million m3/yr
2959Mm3/yr
690 Mm3/yr
421 Mm3/yr
2459 Mm3/yr
803 Mm3/yr
581 Mm3/yr
533 Mm3/yr
450 Mm3/yr
EU25's impact on blue water resources
[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]
Water footprint of EU’s cotton consumption (blue water)
Former Aral Sea, Central Asia
Cotton for export
Signs of global water scarcity
Global water footprint of UK consumption
62% of the UK water footprintis outside its own borders
[Chapagain & Orr, 2008]
WFP(m3/cap/yr)600 - 800800 - 10001000 - 12001200 - 13001300 - 15001500 - 18001800 - 21002100 - 2500No Data
Water footprint per capita
[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Chi
na
Indi
a
Japa
n
Pak
ista
n
Indo
nesi
a
Bra
zil
Mex
ico
Rus
sia
Nig
eria
Thai
land
Italy
US
A
Wat
er fo
otpr
int (
m3/c
ap/y
r)
Domestic water consumption Industrial goods Agricultural goods
Water footprint per capita
Global average water footprint
[Hoekstra & Chapagain, 2008]
(Likely) biofuel crop choice in different regions
Bio-ethanol:maizeBio-diesel: soya
Bio-ethanol:sugar beetBio-diesel: rapeseed
Bio-ethanol:sugar cane, maizeBio-diesel: soya
Bio-ethanol:wheatBio-diesel: rapeseed
Bio-ethanol:sugar caneBio-diesel: palm oil, soya
Bio-ethanol: -Bio-diesel: palm, jatropha
Bio-ethanol:sugar caneBio-diesel: palm,jatropha
Bio-ethanol:sugar caneBio-diesel: soya, palm oil
Bio-ethanol:maize, wheatBio-diesel: rapeseed
Water footprint of biofuels from different crops [litre/litre]
[Gerbens-Leenes, Hoekstra & Van der Meer, 2009]
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Environmental f low requirement, met
Environmental f low requirement, not met
Blue w ater availability
Blue w ater footprint
Blue w ater availability
Runoff (under undeveloped conditions)
m3/s
Runoff
Environmentalflow requirement
Water footprint sustainability assessment:
Water footprint sustainability assessment
Direct water use
Indirect water use(supply chain)
Green water footprintBlue water footprintGrey water footprint
1 specific watershed
All watersheds
Global sustainability
Responsible,efficient water use
Geographic sustainability
Globally equitable & efficient sustainability
Response Strategies for Local Water Footprint &
Impacts Reduction
Instruments to Drive Water
Footprint & Impacts
Reduction
Sustainable, equitable, efficient water use; water
stewardship
Water Footprint
Sustainability Assessment
Water footprint response strategies
Water footprint assessment: Water footprint response strategies
Instrument Water Footprint Application Contribution to Sustainable Water Use
Benchmarking Best estimates for highest reasonable efficiency for green, blue, grey water for sector in geographic area
Responsible, efficient water use at producer/ company level
Agricultural policy Standards of agricultural practice based on benchmarks, national/ sub-national cropping patterns
Responsible, efficient water use at national/ sub-national level, sustainable water use at catchment level
Foreign/ trade policy Global water footprint accounting, water availability/ scarcity, benchmarks, sustainability assessment
Responsible, efficient water use at the global level
Reporting Standardized methodology for calculating water use, sustainability assessment
Awareness raising for investors, consumers
Water footprint assessment: Water footprint response strategies
Instrument Water Footprint Application Contribution to Sustainable Water Use
Labeling Standardized methodology for calculating water use, sustainability assessment
Awareness raising & sustainable consumer water footprint
Certification Standardized methodology for calculating water use, sustainability assessment (water availability/ scarcity), response strategy analysis
“Good water stewardship” criteria at business level, awareness raising for consumers/ business, linking consumers to business
Environment Policy
Standardized methodology for calculating water use, sustainability assessment (water availability/ scarcity)
“Good water stewardship” at national level
Energy Policy
Standardized methodology for calculating water use, water footprint of biofuels
Water use and crop production trade off analysis for energy sources
Ruth MathewsWater Footprint [email protected]