L’Europe manque d’une vision globale sur l’eau[en] 

EU climate policy has largely focused on measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and convince the bloc's international partners to sign up to an international deal to address global warming. 

Increasingly, however, extreme weather phenomena such as heat waves, floods and forest fires have drawn attention to the need to define strategies and measures to adapt to the effects of global warming that are already occurring. 

In 2006 and early 2007, the European Commission carried out an in-depth assessment of water scarcity and drought in the European Union.

Following this assessment, the Commission presented a set of policy options to increase water efficiency and water savings in July 2007. 

On 1 April, the Commission adopted a White Paper preparing the ground for a future EU climate-change adaptation strategy, accompanied by a discussion paper on water, coasts and marine ecology.

Anders Berntell, executive director of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), said it is "a shame that the EU is not putting this [water and climate change] on the table in Copenhagen".

Speaking in Brussels last week during a debate  on water scarcity, he also complained that the EU's approach to water in international discussions is "very vague, not clear at all" and not even close to the type of approach that the bloc has developed for climate change. 

While Europe has a "regional vision" with its Water Framework Directive, it has "no global vision on water," he added.

Meanwhile, transport and energy policies play a crucial role in mitigating climate change, but "a lot of the problem [with climate change adaptation] is linked to the availability in time and space of water," argued Peter Gammeltoft, acting director of water at the European Commission's environment department.

"There will be political awareness in the Commission to take this further," Gammeltoft added, revealing that the EU executive will launch a wide-ranging analysis exercise in this regard and "come back in three years' time" with a more precise vision and possible solutions.

Water scarcity

Water may become a scarce resource in some regions due to climate change, and "we may well face a 'double tension' from increasing demand and scarcity," Gammeltoft said. The Commission's 2007 Communication on water scarcity and drought cited pricing, land-use planning, water-efficient technologies and water-saving culture as possible ways forward.

Antoine Frérot, chief executive officer of private water services operator Veolia Water, argued that water scarcity is not the main problem, but rather "the huge increase in urbanisation and extraction of water". Only part of the extracted water is actually used, "so before [introducting] any policies on restricting use, we should strive to better use the water that is extracted," Frérot said, naming the reuse of waste water as the most appropriate solution. 

Other possible ways forward include switching to a "low-water economy," adopting less water-consuming lifestyles and combating water waste, Frérot said.

Food production 'the main driver' of scarcity

The water sector as such does not cause water scarcity problems, argued Berntell. On a daily basis, an average person drinks perhaps 3.5 litres, uses 50 litres for personal hygiene and another 200 for washing, he said.

"But we eat some 3,500 litres of water every day. That is our average water footprint for food per day," he added. "Food production is the main driver of water scarcity," with 70% of world water going on irrigation, compared with 20% used by industry and just 10% for domestic household use. 

"Only 30% of water extracted for agriculture is actually finally used by the plant. 70% is wasted," added Frérot, arguing that technologies must be developed to get this water back. 

The main issues in addressing water scarcity are knowing "how water-efficient our agriculture is" and checking how trade agreements affect water use in other parts of the world, Berntell said. 

The Commission departments which deal with water use "are not really those in charge of the environment, but those in charge of agriculture and trade, and to some extent energy and transport", he added.