The Water Footprint Concept State of the art

The Water Footprint Concept: State of the art, research outlook and opportunities for education Lara Wöhler – School projects coordinator WFN International Conference of the Water Agency Association Rogaška Slatina, Slovenia 05 -10 -2018

World Economic Forum – Global Risk Report 2016 2

UN Sustainable Development Goals 3

Our blue planet – global water resources 4

Cotton cultivation in the Aral Sea Basin, Central Asia 197 7 198 6 199 9 200 6 200 9 201 3

Water footprints along a supply chain – example cotton Cotton cultivation Water footprint Industrial processing Clothing manufacturer Retailer Consumer Water footprint Virtual water flow through the supply chain Uzbekistan China Italy NL NL

2700 litres of water for 1 cotton shirt

The Water Footprint Concept 8

The Water Footprint Concept 9

The average water footprint of a Dutch consumer 4000 litre/day Source: Mekonnen & Hoekstra (2011) National Water Footprint Accounts, UNESCO-IHE. 10

National Water Footprints – a comparison National water footprint explorer on waterfootprint. org 11

The Global Challenge 12

The water footprint of humanity: not fairly distributed Global average water footprint Source: Hoekstra & Mekonnen (2012) The Water Footprint of Humanity, PNAS

The water footprint of humanity: interregional dependencies soybe an coffee cotton wheat, sunflower seed, cotton, industrial products cotton soybe an coffee Cotto n, coffee soybean, sunflower seed 40% of the water footprint of European consumers is outside Europe 14

The blue water footprint of humanity: not sustainable Blue water scarcity = blue WF / maximum sustainable blue WF Source: Mekonnen & Hoekstra (2016) We need to agree on water footprint caps per river basin (specified per mont

The grey water footprint of humanity: not sustainable Water pollution level = grey WF / maximum sustainable grey WF Nitrog en Source: Mekonnen & Hoekstra (2015)

The Grey Water Footprint of Pharmaceuticals 17

Grey WF of pharmaceutical pollution comparing sources ? 18

Water Footprint Network • Achieving our vision of a world in which we share clean fresh water fairly amongst all people to sustain thriving communities and nature’s diversity is going to take a global community of committed organisations and dedicated individuals. • Water Footprint Network wants to be that community, specifically gathered around the water footprint concept, as our mission makes clear: • Our mission is to use the water footprint concept to promote the transition toward sustainable, fair and efficient use of fresh water resources worldwide. www. waterfootprint. org 19

WFN School Projects • Providing, sharing and spreading school materials 20 www. waterfootprint. org

Water Footprint awareness and education • Infographics • Apps • Art works • Calculators and tools • Games and role plays • Other educational materials 21

www. waterfootprint. org 22

University of Twente – Water Footprint Kids Game [Hoekstra et al, 2011] 23

Thank you www. waterfootprint. org l. wohler@utwente. nl

The maximum sustainable green and blue water footprint Precipitation in a catchment Evapotranspira Runoff tion (blue water) (green water) Green Environme water ntal availability water needs Maximum sustainable green WF Blue water Environme ntal availability water needs Maximum sustainable blue WF

Water footprint reduction: a shared responsibility Direct responsibility - Governments - Direct water users: farmers, industries, households, water supply utilities Supply-chain responsibility - Consumers - Companies - Investors - International cooperation Source: Hoekstra (2013) The Water Footprint of Modern Consumer Society, Routledge, London, UK

Policy & research challenges Technology • Remote sensing to estimate water use, water availability & water scarcity • Smart irrigation • Zero water footprint in industries Policy & governance • WF cap per river basin • WF benchmark per product • Product transparency • Pricing of water scarcity • Fair WF shares