Tag: water resources

Large multinational food companies are currently looking at indicators farmers could use to show progress in saving water. Peter Erik Ywema of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative, an industry platform, spoke to EurActiv in an interview.

Competition between electricity and water demand is climbing up Europe's agenda as climate change is set to further deplete freshwater supplies. Concerns are now being raised that EU renewable energy policies and electric cars could further exacerbate the problem.

Precise data on water usage will soon help farmers and policymakers make better decisions on where to grow crops, says Derk Kuiper from the Water Footprint Network, a UN-backed organisation.

World Water Week, held last week in Stockholm, drew attention to water as means of achieving the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on alleviating poverty and hunger by 2015.

The European Water Partnership (EWP), a non-profit organisation, is in the process of testing draft standards for sustainable water management in industrial production processes. Pilots will soon be launched for the agriculture sector and urban areas.

In the wake of new legislation to reduce the energy consumption of buildings and electric devices, the European Commission is determined to introduce similar measures for water.

A newly-established Water Intergroup in the European Parliament has started to help MEPs consider EU water policies more horizontally, as the European Commission prepares to put its water strategies in line with climate and resource-efficiency policies.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) wants the current climate change debate to focus on water efficiency at least as heavily as it does on energy efficiency and the energy performance of buildings. 

Europe's water industry has urged farmers to record their exact water consumption and opt for more efficient irrigation methods, in a drive to reconcile the bloc's Common Agricultural Policy with its Water Framework Directive and pave the way for a 'new blue deal'.

While transport and energy form an integral part of Europe's agenda for UN climate talks in Copenhagen later this year, water policies are still lagging behind, experts said.

At the 2009 World Water Forum in Istanbul this week, Europe called for more cooperation on water between all sectors and countries to avoid conflict over this increasingly scarce resource.

Protecting water resources should rank among the top priorities of a global deal to mitigate climate change as it will "secure the basis for food, energy, health and economic development, thereby ensuring a nation's ability to thrive," write Dr. Mark Smith, head of the Water Programme IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and Dr. Ger Bergkamp, director general of the World Water Council, in a March paper.

With water supplies under growing strain due to intensive use and climate change, the EU has introduced pricing policies to persuade users – farmers, industries and households – to save the precious resource. Meanwhile, pressure is growing to recognise access to safe drinking water and sanitation as a basic human right.

As water shortages in developing countries become more acute due to climate change, the EU is backing policies to manage the demands of all sectors, prioritising health, sanitation and cooperation between states.

"Everything has to rethought in terms of the water problem," Austrian centre-right MEP Richard Seeber told EurActiv in an interview, commenting on the unanimous adoption of his report on water scarcity and drought by Parliament's environment committee yesterday (9 September).

The Parliament yesterday (17 June) voted by a large majority in support of new EU water quality rules based on a compromise agreement reached earlier with the Council. The vote signals the finalisation of the EU's Water Framework Directive, proposed in 2000.

The challenge posed by current high oil prices is nothing compared to what lies ahead amid dwindling supply and growing demand for a far more basic commodity - water, warns a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor.

With World Water Day being celebrated on 20 March, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) urged governments, businesses and NGOs alike to step up efforts to reduce uncontrolled dumping of waste in rivers - in both poor and rich nations.

Following another summer characterised by heat waves, forest fires and droughts, the Portuguese EU Presidency brings together Europe's environment ministers to discuss options for dealing with an increased frequency of droughts and water shortages, exacerbated by the effects of climate change. 

Citing ''dramatic increases'' in the intensity and frequency of water shortages and drought over last 30 years, the Commission has put forward a set of recommendations and policy options, including higher prices and conservation measures.

The latest report from UNICEF and the WHO shows improvements in global access to safe drinking water but warns that lack of sanitation is putting millions at risk.