UNITED KINGDOM: A study released by WWF UK this week about the scale of British water consumption and its impact around the world has featured prominently in much of the national media, despite vying for attention with Britain’s Olympic medal haul.
The front page of the Guardian newspaper, a whole page in the national news section, as well as a major editorial piece were all devoted to the issue.
The report named the UK as the sixth largest net importer of water in the world, with only 38% of the UK’s total water use coming from its own resources, and highlighted the extent to which UK imports come from countries which are running out of fresh water.
The study is the first attempt to measure the UK’s total “water footprint” – or the total amount of water consumed both directly and indirectly in terms of the “virtual” water required for the production of imported food and textiles.
In Britain’s case, water often comes indirectly from countries whose water systems are already facing serious shortages. But, retailers are keen to deflect ethical concerns about the amounts of food and cotton consumed that are grown in drier areas of the world where water resources are either already stressed or likely to become so.
With fresh water being talked about as “the new oil”, the report warns that as a finite resource, water will become more expensive, with knock-on impacts on consumer prices.
Many British retailers have already examined how much of their food comes from areas where water resources are depleted and whether they will need to relocate production as water runs out, or invest in alternative technologies, such as desalination.
Department store chain Marks & Spencer is working to calculate the water footprint of its entire food and clothing ranges, saying that the availability of water over the next decade is already a key part of the company’s strategic decisions about where to source food for its stores.
Likewise, Sainsbury’s supermarkets confirmed that water would be “on every agenda in sourcing food”.
For more information contact Gabrielle Eaves, market analyst, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, London.
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