Free international trade in ...

Free international trade in water-intensive products, which enables regions that are water-abundant to specialise in the production of water-intensive products and regions that are short of water to specialise in other things and import water-intensive products is an important topic when it comes to alleviating water stress. However, water is generally grossly underpriced, so that international trade will not be influenced much by comparative advantages and disadvantages in water. Instead, increased international trade may simply mean an increasing distance between place of consumption (where benefits accrue) and place of production (where external costs accrue). Free trade without putting sustainable product and sustainable water use agreements in place may lead to imbalance in trade and create serious risk. Certainly, from a national perspective, virtual water import can be regarded as a source of water, which provides the opportunity for water-scarce countries to solve their water shortage problem. However, increased virtual water import increases the dependency on foreign water resources. Particularly countries where the people remember times of hunger, self-sufficiency is often high on the political agenda - for a good reason. Theoretically, consumers can change the world by changing their consumption behaviour towards products that have a lower water footprint. However, consumers lack important information due to insufficient product transparency, which makes it very difficult for consumers to make conscious choices. Further questions to contemplate in this context are: How can free international trade contribute to water footprint reduction? What specific types of trade rules/regulations need to be implemented to promote sustainable water use.