Food Ethics Council starts project on water scarcity

Citation

(2009), "Food Ethics Council starts project on water scarcity", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 10 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe.2009.24910cab.002

Food Ethics Council starts project on water scarcity

Article Type: News From: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Volume 10, Issue 3

The Food Ethics Council has begun a joint project on water scarcity with Spain's Fundacion Nueva Cultura del Agua. Together, they will examine how the market in water-intensive agricultural and horticultural produce can cause environmental, social and economic problems, and pilot an initiative to help address this challenge. Economic growth, urbanisation and changing food production practices have placed global water resources under acute strain. Global water consumption increased six-fold between 1990 and 1995, according to the UN Millennium Report, and over 1.4 million people are living in river basins where high-water use is putting ecosystems under pressure. In parts of Europe, water scarcity is shaping up to be one of the most pressing environmental, social and economic challenges facing politicians, businesses and communities alike. Nowhere are the international dimensions of water scarcity more pronounced than in the food sector. Globally, agriculture uses 69 per cent of all freshwater extracted from rivers, lakes and aquifers. In some Southern European countries it accounts for up to 90 per cent of all water use. Much of that water is used to make agricultural goods to trade across international waters.

The project will examine the impacts of this trade in “virtual water”, with a particular emphasis on the social impacts of water scarcity and of efforts to address water problems. They will pilot an approach to tackling water problems based on dialogue involving stakeholders in the region affected and right along the supply chain. Details can be seen at: www.foodethicscouncil.org/node/418