Policy brief 03/2024: Water quality footprint

In recognition of World Water Day on March 22^nd we* have prepared a Policy Brief to raise awareness on the consequences of water pollution for water scarcity. The transition to a bioeconomy in countries like Germany should not contribute to increased water pollution, nor to scarcity of clean water access, in any regions of the Earth. Fertilization and pesticides used to grow agricultural products can cause extensive environmental damage. The water quality footprint developed in the SYMOBIO 2.0 project identifies global hot spots of nitrogen, phosphorus and glyphosate emissions, and connects these to agricultural supply chains for the German bioeconomy.

Links

• The policy brief (available in German) can be downloaded here: PolicyBrief_Wasser.pdf
• More information on World Water Day:  https://www.un.org/en/observances/water-day
• The full scientific article can be downloaded here: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01054-3

* Prepared by

• Center for Environmental Systems Research
• Kassel Institute for Sustainability