| Title | How far are we from possible ideal virtual water transfer? Evidence from assessing vulnerability of global virtual water trade |
| Authors | Du, Yueyue Fang, Kai Zhao, Dandan Liu, Qingyan Xu, Zihan Peng, Jian |
| Affiliation | Peking Univ, Coll Urban & Environm Sci, Lab Earth Surface Proc, Minist Educ, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China Zhejiang Univ, Sch Publ Affairs, Hangzhou 310058, Zhejiang, Peoples R China Aalto Univ, Dept Built Environm, Water & Dev Res Grp, POB 15200, Espoo 00076, Finland China Unicom Shanxi Ind Internet Co LTD, Taiyuan 030032, Shanxi, Peoples R China |
| Keywords | INTERNATIONAL-TRADE LAND FOOD SUSTAINABILITY FOOTPRINT OFFS |
| Issue Date | 1-Jul-2022 |
| Publisher | SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT |
| Abstract | With the increasing contradiction between water demand and supply in a telecoupled society where nature and human interplay intensively over distance, virtual water trade (VWT) plays an indispensable role in global water use sustainability. There has been little quantitative analysis of global water use sustainability depicting both overall system characteristics and flows between subsystems. In such a context, the extent to which virtual water transfer deviates from possible ideal expectations (i.e., virtual water flows from water-abundant regions to water-scarce ones), and its impact on global water use sustainability, are not well evaluated. Therefore, the global VWT vulnerability framework is proposed to delineate the gap between the real VWT and the possible optimal scenario, providing potential space for future optimization and regulation. Represented by the ratio of weighted total virtual water volume to the original one, the vulnerability is assessed from 2005 to 2015 based on the Fora input-output database and Virtual Water Transfer Multiplier which assigns differentiated weights to per unit volume of virtual water transfer based on the water stress levels of importers and those of exporters. Results show that the global VWT vulnerability has increased by 18.9% during the study period, with Africa and Southern and Central Asia making the biggest contribution. Developed countries contributed around 80% of the increased global VWT vulnerability. However, the proportion has fallen a bit, in terms of the conventional view of developed countries taking the approach of transferring responsibility to developing countries. Instead, the proportions of transferring responsibility between developing countries have rose by 10% to 30% during 2005-2015, partially due to stronger trade ties among developing countries. Our findings support policy decisions on tracing environmental responsibility for water scarcity and call for action to prevent water ecological downsides due to international trade. |
| URI | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/647262 |
| ISSN | 0048-9697 |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154493 |
| Indexed | SCI(E) |
| Appears in Collections: | 城市与环境学院 地表过程分析与模拟教育部重点实验室 |
