Freshwater is a vital resource for humans and ecosystems but is scarce in many regions around the world. Organizations measure and manage direct water use at their premises but usually neglect the indirect water use associated with global supply chains – even though the latter can be higher by several orders of magnitude. As of 2015, there was no standardized life-cycle-based approach for analysing the water consumption of an organization. Against this background, the BMBF funded research project “Water Footprint for Organizations – Local Measures in Global Supply Chains (WELLE)” has been launched by TU Berlin, Evonik, German Copper Institute, Neoperl, thinkstep and Volkswagen. The project aims to support organizations in determining their complete Organizational Water Footprint, identifying local hotspots in global supply chains and taking action to reduce their water use and mitigate water stress at critical basins. Within the WELLE project a method for analysing an Organizational Water Footprint has been developed, which analyses an organization’s water use and resulting local impacts throughout its entire value chain. In other words, the Organizational Water Footprint considers not only the direct water use at production facilities, but also the water used indirectly for energy generation and raw material production (upstream in the supply chain) as well as water use during the use and end-of-life phases of products (downstream). The Organizational Water Footprint method builds on two environmental assessment frameworks which have been identified as suitable for the purpose of this project: Water Footprint (ISO 14046, 2014 and Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (UNEP 2015). To support stakeholders in conducting Organizational Water Footprint studies, this guidance document was developed, which presents the method in a clear and concise way by illustrating each step with a practical example. By analysing their Water Footprints, organizations can determine water use and resulting local impacts at premises and “beyond the fence” along global supply chains. In this way they can reduce water risks and contribute to a more sustainable use of the world’s limited freshwater resources. Süßwasser ist eine lebenswichtige Ressource für Menschen und Ökosysteme, ist aber in vielen Regionen der Welt knapp. Organisationen messen und managen den direkten Wasserverbrauch an ihrem Standort, vernachlässigen aber in der Regel den indirekten Wasserverbrauch, der mit globalen Lieferketten verbunden ist - obwohl Letzterer um mehrere Größenordnungen höher sein kann. Bis 2015 gab es keinen standardisierten lebenszyklusbasierten Ansatz, um den Wasserverbrauch einer Organisation zu analysieren. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurde das vom BMBF geförderte Forschungsprojekt "Water Footprint for Organizations - Local Measures in Global Supply Chains (WELLE)" von der TU Berlin, Evonik, dem Deutschen Kupferinstitut, Neoperl, thinkstep und Volkswagen gestartet. Das Projekt zielt darauf ab, Unternehmen dabei zu unterstützen, ihren kompletten organisatorischen Wasserfußabdruck zu bestimmen, lokale Hotspots in globalen Lieferketten zu identifizieren und Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, um ihren Wasserverbrauch zu reduzieren und den Wasserstress in wasserknappen Einzugsgebieten zu mindern. Im Rahmen des WELLE-Projekts wurde eine Methode zur Analyse eines Organisationsbezogenen Wasser Fußabdrucks entwickelt, die den Wasserverbrauch einer Organisation und die daraus resultierenden lokalen Auswirkungen entlang der gesamten Wertschöpfungskette analysiert. Das heißt, der organisationsbezogene Wasser Fußabdruck berücksichtigt nicht nur den direkten Wasserverbrauch in den Produktionsstätten, sondern auch den indirekten Wasserverbrauch für die Energieerzeugung und die Rohstoffproduktion (vorgelagert in der Lieferkette) sowie den Wasserverbrauch während der Nutzungs- und End-of-Life-Phase der Produktion (nachgelagert). Die Methode des organisationsbezogenen Wasser Fußabdrucks baut auf zwei Umweltbewertungsrichtlinien auf, die für den Zweck dieses Projekts als geeignet identifiziert wurden: Wasser Fußabdruck (ISO 14046, 2014) und organisationsbezogene Ökobilanzierung (UNEP 2015). Um Akteure bei der Durchführung von organisationsbezogenen Wasser Fußabdruck Studien zu unterstützen, wurde dieser Leitfaden entwickelt, der die Methode klar und übersichtlich darstellt und indem jeder Schritt mit einem praktischen Beispiel illustriert wird. Durch die Analyse ihres Wasser-Fußabdrucks können Organisationen den Wasserverbrauch und die daraus resultierenden lokalen Auswirkungen am Standort und entlang globaler Lieferketten ermitteln. Auf diese Weise können sie Wasserrisiken reduzieren und zu einem nachhaltigeren Umgang mit den begrenzten Süßwasserressourcen der Welt beitragen.

Freshwater is a vital resource for humans and ecosystems but is scarce in many regions around the world. Organizations measure and manage direct water use at their premises but usually neglect the indirect water use associated with global supply chains - even though the latter can be higher by several orders of magnitude. As of 2015, there was no standardized life-cycle-based approach for analysing the water consumption of an organization. Against this background, the BMBF funded research project "Water Footprint for Organizations - Local Measures in Global Supply Chains (WELLE)" has been launched by TU Berlin, Evonik, German Copper Institute, Neoperl, thinkstep and Volkswagen. The project aims to support organizations in determining their complete Organizational Water Footprint, identifying local hotspots in global supply chains and taking action to reduce their water use and mitigate water stress at critical basins. Within the WELLE project a method for analysing an Organizational Water Footprint has been developed, which analyses an organization's water use and resulting local impacts throughout its entire value chain. In other words, the Organizational Water Footprint considers not only the direct water use at production facilities, but also the water used indirectly for energy generation and raw material production (upstream in the supply chain) as well as water use during the use and end-of-life phases of products (downstream). The Organizational Water Footprint method builds on two environmental assessment frameworks which have been identified as suitable for the purpose of this project: Water Footprint (ISO 14046, 2014 and Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (UNEP 2015). To support stakeholders in conducting Organizational Water Footprint studies, this guidance document was developed, which presents the method in a clear and concise way by illustrating each step with a practical example. By analysing their Water Footprints, organizations can determine water use and resulting local impacts at premises and "beyond the fence" along global supply chains. In this way they can reduce water risks and contribute to a more sustainable use of the world's limited freshwater resources.

People use lots of water for drinking, cooking and washing, but significantly more for producing things such as food, paper and cotton clothes. The water footprint is an indicator of water use that looks at both direct and indirect water use of a consumer or producer. Indirect use refers to the 'virtual water' embedded in tradable goods and commodities, such as cereals, sugar or cotton. The water footprint of an individual, community or business is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community or produced by the business. This book offers a complete and up-to-date overview of the global standard on water footprint assessment as developed by the Water Footprint Network. More specifically it: o Provides a comprehensive set of methods for water footprint assessment o Shows how water footprints can be calculated for individual processes and products, as well as for consumers, nations and businesses o Contains detailed worked examples of how to calculate green, blue and grey water footprints o Describes how to assess the sustainability of the aggregated water footprint within a river basin or the water footprint of a specific product o Includes an extensive library of possible measures that can contribute to water footprint reduction

This Book includes selected papers that has been published in the Water journal Special Issue (SI) on Water Supply and Water Scarcity. Moreover, an overview of the SI is included. The papers selected for publication in the SI include review and research papers on water history, on water management issues under water scarcity regimes, on rainwater harvesting, on water quality and degradation, and on climatic variability impacts on water resources. Overall, the issue identify and highlight the main challenges in water sector, and particularly in management and protection of water resources and in use of alternative (non-conventional) water resources, especially in areas with demographic change and climate vulnerability in order to achieve sustainable and secure water supply. Furthermore, general guidelines and possible solutions for an improved and sophisticated water management system are proposed and discussed, such as the adoption of advanced technological solutions and practices that improve water-use efficiency and the use of alternative water resources, to address the growing environmental and health issues and to reduce the emerging conflicts among water users.

Water in Textiles and Apparel: Consumption, Footprint, and Life Cycle Assessment provides a thorough analysis of one of the most urgent issues facing the textiles industry. As water is essential to the textile production system, and as availability of water is reduced due to natural and anthropogenic factors, the industry must respond. With a thorough treatment of both life cycle assessment and water footprint perspectives, this book provides practical strategies for responsible water use across the textile supply chain. Readers will learn essential information from research and industry case studies that will help them understand the textile industry's role in this issue. - Combines different perspectives, life cycle assessment, government policies, businesses strategies, and case studies to provide a holistic view on the topic - Addresses water consumption in every life cycle phase of textile production - Explores emerging strategies for water conservation in the textiles sector

The WWDR 2014 on Water and Energy is now an annual and thematic report with a focus on different strategic water issues each year. It is shorter in the order of 100 pages with a standardized structure and data and case studies annexes related to the theme. The WWDR 2014 will be launched during the main World Water Day celebrations in Tokyo, Japan on 21 March 2014. Water and energy are closely interconnected and highly interdependent. Trade-offs need to be managed to limit negative impacts and foster opportunities for synergy. Water and energy have crucial impacts on poverty alleviation both directly, as a number of the Millennium Development Goals depend on major improvements in access to water, sanitation, power and energy sources, and indirectly, as water and energy can be binding constraints on economic growth the ultimate hope for widespread poverty reduction. This fifth edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR 2014) seeks to inform decision-makers

Globalization of Water is a first-of-its-kind review of the critical relationship between globalization and sustainable water management. It explores the impact of international trade on local water depletion and pollution and identifies “water dependent” nations. Examines the critical link between water management and international trade, considering how local water depletion and pollution are often closely tied to the structure of the global economy Offers a consumer-based indicator of each nation’s water use: the water footprint Questions whether trade can enhance global water use efficiency, or whether it simply shifts the environmental burden to a distant location Highlights the hidden link between national consumption and the use of water resources across the globe, identifying the threats facing ‘water dependent’ countries worldwide Provides a state-of-the-art review and in-depth data source for a new field of knowledge

"This study provides a worldwide account of the environmental footprint of food wastage along the food supply chain, focusing on impacts on climate, water, land and biodiversity, as well as economic quantification based on producer prices ..."--Introduction.

This book is primarily intended to serve as a research-based textbook on sustainable supply chains for graduate programs in Business, Management, Industrial Engineering, and Industrial Ecology, but it should also be of interest for researchers in the broader sustainable supply chain space, whether from the operations management and industrial engineering side or more from the industrial ecology and life-cycle assessment side. Finding efficient solutions towards a more sustainable supply chain is increasingly important for managers, but clearly this raise difficult questions, often without clear answers. This book aims to provide insights into these kinds of questions for students and practitioners, based on the latest academic research.

The report aims to provide a conceptual framework to address food security under conditions of water scarcity in agriculture. It has been prepared by a team of FAO staff and consultants in the framework of the project "Coping with water scarcity - the role of agriculture", and has been discussed at an Expert Consultation meeting organized in FAO, Rome, during the period 14-16 December 2009 on the same subject. It was subsequently edited and revised, taking account of discussions in the Expert Consultation and materials presented to the meeting. The purpose of the Expert Consultation was to assist FAO to better design its water scarcity programme. In particular, the experts were requested to provide recommendations on the range of technical and policy options and associated principles that FAO should promote as part of an agricultural response to water scarcity in member countries. The document offers views on the conceptual framework on which FAO's water scarcity programme should be based, proposes a set of definitions associated with the concept of water scarcity, and indicates the main principles on which FAO should base its action in support to its member countries. At the meeting, experts were requested to review the draft document and provide feedback and recommendations for its finalization. Issues that were addressed in discussions included: 3⁄4 Water scarcity: agreement on key definitions. 3⁄4 The conceptualisation of water scarcity in ways that are meaningful for policy development and decision-making. 3⁄4 The quantification of water scarcity. . 3⁄4 Policy and technical response options available to ensure food security in conditions of water scarcity. . 3⁄4 Criteria and principles that should be used to establish priorities for action in response to water scarcity in agriculture and ensure effective and efficient water scarcity coping strategies.