By Martin Banks - 3rd November 2011
We must address the link between our consumption, economic growth and prosperity
Ariadna Rodrigo
Europe's material consumption is threatening the world's water supply, according to new research launched by Friends of the Earth Europe and the sustainable Europe research institute.
The findings, released on Thursday, come with a warning that Europe is neglecting the 'catastrophic consequences' that water scarcity will have in Europe and in the rest of the world.
The two groups are urging EU governments to start measuring Europe's overall water and material use.
Both say Europe needs to measure its 'water footprint' in order to set targets to encourage a 'significant' reduction of water use.
Data shows that Europe has the fourth highest per capita consumption of water in the world.
Europeans also consume more water indirectly through the consumption of products that require water for their production.
This is because, for example, to create one litre of bottled water nine litres of water are needed in the bottling process, and 140 litres are required to produce one cup of coffee.
Ariadna Rodrigo, resource use campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said, "Europe is using more than its fair share of the world's water and this has massive impacts in other countries where water is starting to become very scarce.
"Behind Europe's high water use is our high-consuming lifestyles and all the water needed for the products we buy, which is why the only answer is an overall reduction in consumption levels.
"What's worse is that in Europe we still waste huge amounts of food and other products which take a lot of water to make."
The groups' say that Europe's high levels of water use are 'characteristic of alarming' levels of resource use by a minority of the global population.
On average each European consumes 4750 litres of water per day (direct and indirect use), whereas in Africa the average is 3350 litres.
Rodrigo said, "This imbalance in water use has already resulted in water conflicts in parts of the world where water is scarcest.
"Paradoxically, many countries with low levels of fresh water use a large part of their water supply for the production of exports to water rich countries."
The report highlights "how little" consideration is given to the impact on local communities and the local environment of production processes, such as the case of water usage in lithium extraction in Chile.
Rodrigo added, "In a world of finite resources, we must address the link between our consumption, economic growth and prosperity in our societies.
"We need the EU to start measuring and reducing its resource use – this means focusing on quality of life rather than continuing to over-consume our natural resources.
"An assessment of water use along the whole production chain needs to be used to determine the water impacts of policies."
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