The Ingenieur Vol 57 January-March 2014 The Ingenieur Vol 57 January-March 2014 | Page 28

INGENIEUR WORLD REPORT Global Directions towards creating Water Footprints By Ir. Tan Bee Hong The concepts of water footprint and virtual water are now being discussed on a global front and could impact food security in the world’s water scare regions. T he need for major new ideas, institutional mechanisms and financial arrangements necessary to counteract a wide range of global sustainable development issues was tabled at the UN Summit on climate change in 2009. Water scarcity was among the main topics along with the energy security, biodiversity loss, ecosystem destruction and the steps required to reach the intrinsically linked Millennium Goals. Water as a natural resource has to be viewed on a global perspective rather than a regional or national issue. There is a nexus between real water consumption of a region in goods and services and other regional environmental conditions and economic development. The crop failure of a major producing country due to drought or other natural, or man made, disasters can affect the lifestyle of the importing countries either through paying a higher price for agricultural products or searching for substitutes. On a more serious scale, it can mean a particular shortage of traditional food materials. With this realization, the concept of water footprint [