Analysis Sustainability of national consumption from a water resources perspective: The case study for France A. Ertug Ercin ⁎, Mesfin M. Mekonnen, Arjen Y. Hoekstra Twente Water Centre, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands abstract article info Article history: Received 2 May 2012 Received in revised form 10 December 2012 Accepted 21 January 2013 Available online xxxx Keywords: Water footprint France Water scarcity Impact assessment Virtual water trade It has become increasingly evident that local water depletion and pollution are often closely tied to the struc- ture of the global economy. It has been estimated that 20% of the water consumption and pollution in the world relates to the production of export goods. This study analyzes how French water resources are allocat- ed over various purposes, and examines impacts of French production in local water resources. In addition, it analyzes the water dependency of French consumption and the sustainability of imports. The basins of the Loire, Seine, Garonne, and Escaut have been identified as priority basins where maize and industrial produc- tion are the dominant factors for the blue water scarcity. About 47% of the water footprint of French con- sumption is related to imported agricultural products. Cotton, sugar cane and rice are the three major crops that are identified as critical products in a number of severely water-scarce river basins: The basins of the Aral Sea and the Indus, Ganges, Guadalquivir, Guadiana, Tigris & Euphrates, Ebro, Mississippi and Murray rivers. The study shows that the analysis of the external water footprint of a nation is necessary to get a complete picture of the relation between national consumption and the use of water resources. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In recent years, it has become evident that local water depletion and pollution are tied to the structure of the global economy (Hoekstra and Chapagain, 2007). It has been estimated that about twenty percent of the water consumption and pollution in the world relates to the produc- tion of export goods (Hoekstra and Mekonnen, 2012). International trade in commodities implies long-distance transfers of water in virtual form, where virtual water is understood as the volume of water that has been used to produce a commodity and that is thus virtually embed- ded in it (Chapagain and Hoekstra, 2008). Knowledge about the virtual-water flows entering and leaving a country can cast a new light on the actual water scarcity of a country. For developing a responsible national water policy, it is also relevant to consider the linkages between consumed goods in a country and impacts on freshwater systems where the goods are produced. The water footprint is an indicator of freshwater use that looks not only at direct water use of a consumer or producer, but also at the in- direct water use. The water footprint can be regarded as a compre- hensive indicator of freshwater resources appropriation, next to the traditional and restricted measure of water withdrawal (Hoekstra et al., 2011). The objective of this study is to carry out a water footprint assess- ment for France from both a production and consumption perspective. The aim of the assessment from the production perspective is to analyze how French water resources are allocated over various purposes, and examine where the water footprint of production within France ex- ceeds local environmental flow requirements and ambient water qual- ity standards. Additionally, the aim is to quantify which volumes of French water resources are allocated for making products for export and to assess the impact related to this water footprint for export. The assessment from the consumption perspective focuses on the analysis of the external water footprint of French consumption, to get a complete picture of how national consumption translates to water use, not only in France, but also abroad, and to assess French dependen- cy on external water resources and the sustainability of imports. The sustainability is addressed from environmental perspective; social and economic aspects are not taken into account. The study starts with a quantification and mapping of the water footprint of the agricultural and industrial sectors and of domestic water supply within France. Next, virtual water imports into France and virtual water exports leaving France are quantified, by traded commodity. Subsequently, the internal and external water footprints of French consumption are analyzed. Finally, it has been analyzed which components of the French blue water footprints of production and consumption contribute to blue water scarcity in specific river basins and which products are responsible herein. From a methodological point of view, this study improves upon the previous country-specific water footprint studies in three ways, following the global study by Mekonnen and Hoekstra (2011b). First, the water footprints of production and consumption are mapped at a high level of spatial detail. Second, the analysis explicitly Ecological Economics 88 (2013) 133–147 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +31 534854466; fax: +31 534855377. E-mail addresses: a.e.ercin@utwente.nl (A.E. Ercin), M.M.Mekonnen@utwente.nl (M.M. Mekonnen), a.y.hoekstra@utwente.nl (A.Y. Hoekstra). 0921-8009/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.01.015 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Ecological Economics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon