The Water Footprint of Modern Consumer Society

Description

Using the water footprint concept, this impactful book aids our understanding of how we can reduce water consumption and pollution to sustainable levels. Since the publication of the first edition, the question of how to reduce our water footprint has become even more urgent. Freshwater scarcity is increasingly perceived as a global systemic risk and overconsumption of water is widespread. The water footprint, a concept founded by the author, is an indicator of direct and indirect freshwater use by a consumer or producer that can be used to analyze water usage along supply chains and assess the sustainability, efficiency and fairness of our water use. This new edition is fully revised and updated to reflect continued developments in this rapidly growing field of knowledge. New chapters are added covering the history of the water footprint concept; the environmental footprint of the human species versus planetary boundaries; and the human right to water as a foundation to equitable sharing. All other chapters are fully revised with new findings, applications and references, including major new research on energy, vegetarian diets and intelligent water allocation over competing demands. The Water Footprint of Modern Consumer Society is a key textbook for students of interdisciplinary water studies and those taking other related courses within the environmental sciences. It will also be of interest to those working in the governmental sector, environmental and consumer organizations, the business sector and UN institutions, where there is growing interest in the water footprint concept. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of illustrations Preface to the first edition Preface to the second edition Acknowledgements 1. The environmental footprint of the human species The footprint family Footprint of consumption versus footprint of production Human development criteria Environmental sustainability Eco-efficiency Social equity Resource security Conclusion 2. A brief history of water footprint thinking Four basic thoughts The history of green, blue and grey Measuring water consumption rather than abstractions From concept to field of analysis Relation to other research fields The emergence of water footprint studies at different geographic scales The emergence of product, sector and corporate water footprint studies The water footprint of dietary choices: the water-food nexus The water footprint of the energy mix: the water-energy nexus Putting water footprints and virtual water trade in context Technical advances Standards and guidelines Conclusion 3. Why do we overexploit our limited freshwater resources? Freshwater is a renewable but finite resource Open access, competition and externalities Freshwater availability and demand strongly vary in space and time Freshwater is highly valuable but generally priced far below its value Why freshwater is easily overexploited Freshwater is a local but also a global resource How all water problems relate to what we consume: the water footprint concept 4. Drinking ten bathtubs of water a day The case of cola The operational water footprint of bottling cola The supply chain The water footprint of a 0.5-litre PET-bottle of cola Sugar beet, sugar cane or maize? Local impacts What the cola example teaches us The water footprint of our daily drinks 5. Water for bread and pasta The water footprint of wheat production Rain-fed versus irrigated agriculture The Great Plains of the US The Ganges and Indus river basins International virtual water flows related to trade in wheat products Grain reserves as virtual water reservoir The water footprint of wheat from the consumption perspective The water footprint of Italian wheat consumption The water footprint of Italian pasta Bread wheat versus durum wheat Concerns over water use for Italian wheat production Lack of appropriate water policy Benchmarking the water footprint of wheat 6. Meat and dairy, the biggest water users The supply chain The relevance of feed Pastoralist systems The water footprint of animal products versus crop products The water footprint of fish and crustaceans The water footprint of a meat versus vegetarian or vegan diet The international character of meat, dairy and water Meat and dairy: the blind spot in the water sector 7. How our cotton clothes link to a disappearing sea The disappearing Aral Sea The water footprint of agriculture in Central Asia The importance of cotton Cotton’s water footprint Benchmarking the water footprint of seed cotton Setting a cap on the blue water footprint in the Aral Sea Basin Other fibres than cotton? 8. The energy transition: how to combine carbon and water footprint reduction? Bioenergy The water footprint of biofuels from sugar, starch and oil crops Water footprint of biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks Water footprint of biofuels from algae The myth of ‘no competition with food’ Biodiesel from jatropha The water footprint of bio-based transport Water for firewood Water footprint of hydroelectricity The water footprint of fossil fuels Nuclear power Solar, wind and geothermal energy Water footprint of electricity The transition to electricity Energy self-sufficiency at smaller scales Water-smart energy policy 9. The overseas water footprint of cut flowers Irrigation and fertilizer use around Lake Naivasha The water footprint within the Lake Naivasha Basin The water footprint related to cut-flower export Sustainability of water use in the Lake Naivasha Basin Setting a cap for the blue and grey water footprint in the basin Current water regulations in the Lake Naivasha Basin A sustainable-flower agreement between major agents along thecut-flower supply chain Integrating sustainability into economic development 10. The supply-chain water footprint of paper Estimating the water footprint of paper The UPM case The water footprint of paper related to wood production Forest evapotranspiration Wood yields The water footprint of printing and writing paper The water footprint of paper consumption in the Netherlands Two to twenty litres of water per sheet of paper The water footprint of other wood products 11. Sustainability: water footprint caps per water body The maximum sustainable blue and green water footprint Blue water needs for nature Green water needs for nature The maximum sustainable grey water footprint The importance of location and timing How sustainable is our blue water footprint? Blue water footprint caps How sustainable is our green water footprint? Limiting our green water footprint How sustainable is our grey water footprint? Grey water footprint caps Downscaling footprint caps to individual users From the geographic to a production or consumption perspective What is sustainable production? What is sustainable consumption? 12. Efficiency: water footprint benchmarks per product Water-use efficiency from a production perspective Zero water footprint in industry Increasing water productivity in agriculture Land versus water productivity in crop growing Irrigation efficiency versus water-use efficiency Water footprint benchmarking Marginal cost curves for water footprint reduction A broader framework for considering water-use efficiency Water-use efficiency from a geographic perspective Water-use efficiency from a consumption perspective How much optimism regarding efficiency improvements iswarranted? The rebound effect 13. Equitability: fair water footprint shares per community Differences in water footprints across communities Need for contraction and convergence Three pathways towards more equitable water sharing Shifting to a less water-intensive consumption pattern The idea of fair water footprint shares The human right to water International agreement on national water footprint reduction targets Learning from Kyoto and Paris? What is equitable? Moving forwards 14. Allocating the world’s limited freshwater resources Water allocation: the producer, trade and consumer perspective Four development principles to guide wise water allocation Policy instruments for wise water allocation Synergies and trade-offs between development principles Integrating water awareness in other policy domains The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 15. Getting trade right The effect of international trade on domestic water resources The effect of water availability on international trade The water scarcity–export paradox Water pricing Product transparency versus non-discrimination in trade The absence of international agreements on sustainable water use An international water label for water-intensive products The future of free trade Intensification of trade in water-intensive commodities: risks andopportunities 16. Product transparency Why product transparency? Transparency about what? The consumer perspective The company perspective The investor perspective The role of government Should products get a water label? Good water stewardship A global water footprint standard 17. Who will be the heroes of change? Consumers: creating leverage Companies: towards supply-chain responsibility Investing in the long term Coherent governmental policy Responsibility: can we divide it into pieces? References Index