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Water Footprint in National Climate Change Strategy

This study explores how the water footprint can inform the formulation of a national climate change adaptation strategy. It discusses the challenges related to freshwater and highlights the economic use of water, particularly in agriculture. The study also explains the concept of the water footprint and its application in analyzing average crop water use, virtual water exports, and food consumption. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of the water footprint in climate change adaptation and provides recommendations for policy formulation.

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Water Footprint in National Climate Change Strategy

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  1. C. Zoumides1, A. Bruggeman2 and T. Zachariadis1 How can the water footprint contribute to the formulation of a national climate change adaptation strategy? • 1 Cyprus University of Technology, Department of Environmental Science & Technology • 2 The Cyprus Institute, Energy, Environment and Water Research Center Adaptation Workshop, 2nd Nov. 2011, Nicosia.

  2. Water & Climate Change • According to IPCC (2008), the challenges related to freshwater are: • having too much water; • having too little water; and • having too much pollution. • Each of these problems may be exacerbated by climate change. • Water is vital for human existence and is considered as one of the primary transmitters of climate change impacts.

  3. Economic use of water • Agriculture is the dominant water using sector - 74%. • Industrial and domestic water use account for 18% and 8% respectively (IWMI, 2007). • In Cyprus: • Agriculture 62.5% • Industry: 3.0% • Domestic: 34.5%(WDD, 2010). Global (blue) water use. Source: IWMI (2007)

  4. What is the Water Footprint? • A consumption-based indicator of water use (e.g. m3/year) introduced by Hoekstra in 2002. • What’s new compare to traditional indicators: • direct and indirect use of water; in the case of crop production, it accounts for the use of irrigation and rain. • when and where; in the case of national WF, it accounts for the use of domestic and foreign water.

  5. Water, trade & consumption

  6. Average crop water use in Cyprus Average crop water use in Cyprus (1996-2005). DataSource: Bruggeman et al (2011)

  7. Average virtual water exports Average virtual water exports (1996-2005). DataSource: Bruggeman et al (2011)

  8. Crop supply: Internal vs. External Origin of average crop supply in Cyprus (1996-2005). DataSource: FAOSTAT (2011)

  9. Water footprint of food consumption Water footprints related to food consumption (1996-2005). DataSource: Mekonnen & Hoekstra (2011)

  10. Why is our WF so high? • Diet composition • Cypriots consume on average 102kg/cap/yr of meat; W. Europe: 89kg, World Average 37kg (FAOSTAT, 2011) • Animal products require a lot of water to be produced. • Crop matrix and climatic conditions • High evapotranspiration implies high crop water requirements. • Low precipitation implies highirrigation requirements.

  11. WF & climate change adaptation • “Water footprint is highly valuable as an awareness-raising, educational and advocacy tool that leads to better understanding of water impacts and can demonstrate the case for better water management. • As part of a framework of climate impact assessment it can help […] to assess the ability of hydrological systems to meet the demands being placed upon them. • Water footprint assessments should be recognized as the basis upon which water adaptation policies can be formulated: • changing crop varieties; • providing incentives for production and consumption with lower water demands; • developing robust IWRM plans that manage the competing demands on water resources within environmental constraints. • All countries should conduct sectoral water footprints studies” GPPN (2009:11)

  12. Conclusions / Recommendations • Agriculture in Cyprus is the largest water using sector. • On average 40% of blue crop water use is exported. • Food consumption depends on external water. • The existing crop matrix and climatic conditions and the diet composition of Cypriots contribute to a high WF. • Climate change adaptation requires identifying production and consumption patterns with lower water requirements. • The WF is a powerful tool that can contribute towards this direction.

  13. Reference • Bruggeman, A., Zoumides, C., Pashiardis S., Hadjinicolaou, P., Lange, M. A. and Zachariadis T. (2011). Effect of climate variability and climate change on crop production and water resources in Cyprus. Study for the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, led by the Agricultural Research Institute of Cyprus, June 2011. http://eewrc.cyi.ac.cy/system/files/Bruggeman_etal_climate_and_agriculture_Cyprus_Jun2011.pdf • FAOSTAT (2011). http://faostat.fao.org/ • GPPN (2009). Water and Climate Change Adaptation. Key message presented by the Global Public Policy Network on Water Management, on the 15th Conference of Parties (COP-15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), March 2009. • IPCC (2008). Climate Change and Water. URL: http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/technical-papers/ccw/chapter1.pdf • IWMI (2007). Water for food, water for life: A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture. London, UK: Earthscan. • Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011) National water footprint accounts: The green, blue and grey water footprint of production and consumption. Value of Water Research Report Series No. 50, UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands. • WDD (2010). Cost Assessment and Pricing of Water Services in Cyprus. Water Development Department. Nicosia, Cyprus.

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