Domestic and International Drivers of the Demand for Water Resources in the Context of Water Scarcity A Cross-Country Study

摘要

Global warming, while increasing human demand for water, is reducing water availabilityby reducing runoff flows and the effective amount of water between seasons, making water scarcity agrowing problem globally. Water management plays an important role in mitigating global warming,improving the water cycle, reducing carbon emissions, and providing clean energy, and pricing wateris considered a good approach to water management. Pricing water needs to take into account allsectorsandaspectsofsociety, suchasdomesticwater, foodandagriculture, energy, transport, industry,urbanprovision,humanhealth,ecosystems,andtheenvironment,andtheirinterrelationshipsthroughwater, within the context of the fundamental human rights to water and sanitation. This requires thatevery stakeholder should contribute to the development of water-related policies at every stage ofthe water interrelationship. This study investigated the relationship between water demand acrossdifferent sectors of the economy using indicators for China, Australia, Japan, and the UK. Using panelanalyses, this study finds that economic growth and population expansion increases the demandfor water in all aspects. These findings have significant policy implications for water management.Because water prices can have an impact on global trade and, more importantly, are a major solutionto global warming, water management policies should be considered at the global level, not only atthe national level.