La Ecología Política del Agua Virtual y Huella Hídrica. Reflexiones sobre la necesidad de un análisis crítico de los indicadores de flujos virtuales de agua en la economía

  1. María Beltrán
  2. Esther Velázquez
Revue:
REC Revista de economía crítica

ISSN: 1696-0866,  2013-5254

Année de publication: 2015

Titre de la publication: Los estados de bienestar europeos en transformación: el impacto de la crisis de 2008

Número: 20

Pages: 44-56

Type: Article

DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAccès ouvert editor

D'autres publications dans: REC Revista de economía crítica

Résumé

From the perspective of Ecological Economics, virtual water and water footprint can be used to shed light on the ecological distributional conflicts caused by social metabolism of the economy. We show that virtual water flows make visible the material of these conflicts, while virtual water model abstracts water from the material context of its use and consequently ignores how water resources management are affected by power relations. We argue that the analysis of virtual water flows should be complemented with the analysis of institutional, political and social processes that both coexist and affect them using the political ecology approach. We show that great effort has been devoted to the development of the methodology while very little attention has been paid to the analysis of the power relations that coexist and condition with these flows, thus pointed to the contradictions generated by these indicators when it comes to providing relevant information for the implementation of water and trade policies.

Références bibliographiques

  • Abu-Sharar, T., Al-Karablieh, E., and Haddadin, M. (2012) "Role of Virtual Water in Optimizing Water Resources Management in Jordan". Water Resources Management, 26, 3977-3993. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-012-0116-z
  • Aldaya, M., Hoekstra, A. (2010). "The water needed for Italians to eat pasta and pizza". Agricultural Systems, 103: 351-360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2010.03.004
  • Aldaya, M. y Llamas, M. (2009). "Water Footprint Analysis (Hydrologic and Economic) of the Guadania River Basin". United Nations World Water Development, 3. UNESCO: World Water Assessment Programme.
  • Aldaya, M., Martínez, P. y Llamas, M. (2010). "Incorporating the Water Footprint and Virtual Water into Policy: Reflections from the Mancha Occidental Region, Spain". Water Resources Management, 24: 941-958. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-009-9480-8
  • Aguilera, F. (2008) La nueva economía del agua. Madrid: Catarata.
  • Allan, J. (1993) Fortunately there are substitutes for water otherwise our hydro-political futures would be impossible. In ODA, Priorities for water resources allocation and management, ODA, London.
  • Allan, J. (2010) Virtual Water: Tackling the Threat to Our Planet's Most Precious Resource. London: I.B. Tauris. https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755620524
  • Barnes, J. (2013) "Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink: The false promise of virtual water". Critique of Anthropology, 33, 371-389. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275X13499382
  • Beltrán, MJ. (2012) Del metabolismo social al metabolismo hídrico. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Pablo de Olavide University, Seville.
  • Berrittella M, Hoekstra A, Rehdanzc K, Rosond R, Tol R (2007) "The economic impact of restricted water supply: A computable general equilibrium analysis." Water Resources, 41, 1799-1813. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2007.01.010
  • Carpintero, O. (2005). El metabolismo de la economía española. Recursos naturales y huella ecológica (1955-2000). Madrid: Fundación Cesar Manrique.
  • Chapagain, A. and Hoekstra, A. (2004) Water footprints of nations. Value of Water Research Report Series. 16. UNESCO: IHE, Institute for Water Education. Delft, The Netherlands.
  • Chapagain AK, Hoekstra AY (2008) "The global component of freshwater demand and supply: an assessment of virtual water flows between nations as a result of trade in agricultural and industrial products". Water International, 33, 19-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060801927812
  • Chapagain, A. and Orr, S. (2008) UK water footprint: the impact of the UK's food and fibre consumption on global water resources. WWF-UK.
  • Chenoweth J, Hadjikakou, M y Zoumides, C (2014) "Quantifying the human impact on water resources: a critical review of the water footprint concept". Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 18, 2325-2342. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-2325-2014
  • Dietzenbacher E, Velázquez E (2007) "Analyzing Andalusian virtual water trade in an input-output framework". Regional Studies, 41 (2), 185-196. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343400600929077
  • El-Sadek, A. (2010) "Virtual water trade as a solution for water scarcity in Egypt". Water Resources Management, 24, 2437-2448. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-009-9560-9
  • Feng, H., Hubacek K., Minx J., Ling Siu Y., Chapagain A. (2011). "Spatially Explicit Analysis of Water Footprints in the UK". Water, 3, 47-63. https://doi.org/10.3390/w3010047
  • Fernández, S. and Thivet, G. (2008) L'eau virtuelle, quel éclairage pour la gestion et la répartition de l'eau en situation de pénurie? 13th World Water Congress - Global changes and water resources: confronting the expanding and diversifying pressures. Montpellier, France, 1-4 September.
  • Forsyth, T. (2003) Critical Political Ecology: The politics of environmental science London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203017562
  • Galloway JM, Burke GM, Bradford E, Naylor R, Falcon W, Chapagain AK, Gaskell JC, McCullough E, Mooney HA, Oleson L, Steinfeld H, Wassenaar T, Smil V (2007). "International Trade in Meat: The Tip of the Pork Chop". Ambio, 36 (8). https://doi.org/10.1579/0044-7447(2007)36[622:ITIMTT]2.0.CO;2
  • Gawel, E., Bernsen, K., (2011). "Do we really need a water footprint? Global trade, water scarcity and the limited role of virtual water". GAIA-Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 20, 162-167. https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.20.3.5
  • Gawel, E and Bernsen, K. (2013) "What is wrong with virtual water trading? On the limitations of the virtual water concept". Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 31, 168 - 181. https://doi.org/10.1068/c11168
  • Gialis, S. Mavroudeas, S. (2014) "Virtual Water: More Heat than Light?" Capitalism Nature Socialism, 25:2, 60-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/10455752.2013.877512
  • Hoekstra, A. (2003) Virtual Water: An introduction. Virtual Water Trade. Proceedings of the International Expert Meeting on Virtual Water Trade. Value of Water Research Report Series No. 12. UNESCO: IHE, Institute for Water Education. Delft, The Netherlands.
  • Hoekstra, A. (2013) The water footprint of modern consumer society London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203126585
  • Hoekstra, A. and Chapagain, A. (2008) Globalization of water: Sharing the planet's freshwater resources. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470696224
  • Hoekstra AY, Hung PQ (2003) Virtual Water trade: a quantification of virtual water flows between nations in relation to crop trade. Value of Water Research Report Series. 11. UNESCO: IHE, Institute for water education, Delft, the Netherlands.
  • Islam MS, Oki T, Kanae S, Hanasaki N, Agata Y, Koshimura K (2007) "A grid-based assessment of global Water Resource Management water scarcity including virtual water trading". Water Resources Management 21:19-33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-006-9038-y
  • Kaika, M. (2006) The political ecology of water scarcity. The 1989-1991 Athenian drought. In Heynen N, Kaika M, & Swyngedouw (eds.) (2006). In the Nature of Cities. Urban Political Ecology and the Politics of Urban Metabolism. London: Routledge.
  • Kallis, G. Gomez-Baggethun, E. and Zografos, C. (2013) "To value or not to value? That is not the question" Ecological Economics 94, 97-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.07.002
  • Kapp, W. (1976) El carácter de sistema abierto de la economía y sus implicaciones. En Aguilera F, & Alcántara V, (1994) De la economía ambiental a la economía ecológica: 321-360. (Originally published in 1976 in Kurt Dopfer [ed]. Economics in the future: towards a new paradigm, London: MacMillan).
  • Kumar, D. and Singh, O (2005) "Virtual water in global food and water policy making: is there a need for rethinking?" Water Resources Management 19, 759-789. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-005-3278-0
  • Ma, J., Hoekstra, A., Wang, H., Chapagain, A., Wang, D. (2006). "Virtual versus real water transfers within China". Philosophical Transactions, 361: 835-842. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2005.1644
  • Madrid, C., Velázquez, E. (2008). "El metabolismo hídrico y los flujos de agua virtual. Una aplicación al sector hortofrutícola de Andalucía (España)". Revista Iberoamericana de Economía Ecológica, 8: 29-47.
  • Martínez-Alier, J. (2005) El ecologismo de los pobres. Conflictos ambientales y lenguajes de valoración. Barcelona: Icaria.
  • Martínez-Alier, J. Kallis, G. Veuthey, S. Walter, M. and Temper, L. (2010) "Social Metabolism, Ecological Distribution Conflicts, and Valuation Languages". Ecological Economics 70, 153-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.09.024
  • Mekkonnen, M., Hoekstra, A. (2010). "Mitigating the Water Footprint of export cut flowers from the lake Naivasha basin, Kenya". Values of Water Research Report Series nº 45. IHE, Delft, Holanda.
  • Merret, S. (2003) 'Virtual water' and Occam's razor. Occasional Paper No. 62 SOAS King's College London, University of London. December 2003. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2003.9724811
  • Montesinos, P., Camacho, E., Campos, B., Rodríguez-Díaz, J. (2011). "Analysis of Virtual Irrigation Water. Application to Water Resources Management in a Mediterranean River Basin". Water Resources Management, 25: 1635-1651. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-010-9765-y
  • Naredo, J (coord.) (2009) El agua virtual y la huella hidrológica en la comunidad de Madrid. Informe de I+D+I. Canal de Isabel II. Madrid.
  • Nazer, D. Siebel, M. Van der Zaag, P. Mimi, Z. and Gijzen, H. (2008) "Water Footprint of the Palestinians in the West Bank". Journal of the American Water Resources Association 44.2, 449-458. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.2008.00174.x
  • Norgaard, R (2010) "Ecosystem services: From eye-opening metaphor to complexity blinder". Ecological Economics, 69: 1219-1227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.11.009
  • Ridoutt, B. and Pfister, S (2010) "A revised approach to water footprinting to make transparent the impacts of consumption and production on global freshwater scarcity". Global Environmental Change 20, 113-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2009.08.003
  • Robbins, P. (2004) Political Ecology. A critical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
  • Savenije HHG (1998) The Role of Green Water in Food Production in Sub-Saharan Africa. IPTRID/FAO. Article Prepared for FAO.
  • Swyngedouw, E. (1999) "Modernity and Hybridity: Nature, Regeneracionismo, and the Production of the Spanish Waterscape, 1890-1930". Annals of the Association of American Geographers 89.3, 443-465. https://doi.org/10.1111/0004-5608.00157
  • Swyngedouw, E. (2006) "Circulations and Metabolisms: (Hybrid) Natures and (Cyborg) Cities". Science as Culture 2 (15): 105-121. https://doi.org/10.1080/09505430600707970
  • Swyngedouw, E. Kaika, M. Castro, E. (2002) "Urban Water: A Political Ecology Perspective". Built Environment 28.2, 124-137.
  • Trottier, J. (2008) "Water crises: political construction or physical reality?" Contemporary Politics 14.2, 197-214. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569770802176929
  • Vanham, D. and Bidoglio, G (2013) "A review on the indicator water footprint for the EU28". Ecological Indicators 26, 61-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2012.10.021
  • Van Oel P, Mekonnen M, Hoekstra A (2008) The external water footprint of The Netherlands: quantification and impact assessment. Value of water research report series 33. UNESCO: IHE, Institute for water education, Delft, the Netherlands.
  • Velázquez, E. (2007). "Water Trade in Andalusia: an alternative way to management water demand". Ecological Economics, 63 (1): 201-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2006.10.023
  • Velázquez, E. Madrid, C. and Beltrán, MJ. (2011) "Rethinking concepts of virtual water and water footprint in relation to the production-consumption binomial and the water-energy nexus". Water Resources Management 25, 743-761. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-010-9724-7
  • Verma, S., Kampman, D., van der Zaag, P., Hoekstra, A. Y. (2009). "Going against the flow: A critical analysis of inter-state virtual water trade in the context of India's National River Linking Program". Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 34: 261-269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2008.05.002
  • Wichelns, D., (2010a). "Virtual Water: A Helpful Perspective, but not a Sufficient Policy Criterion". Water Resources Management 24, 2203-2219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-009-9547-6
  • Wichelns, D. (2010b) "Virtual Water and Water Footprints Offer Limited Insight Regarding Important Policy Questions". International Journal of Water Resources Development 26:4, 639-651. https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2010.519494
  • Wichelns, D. (2011) "Do the Virtual Water and Water Footprint Perspectives Enhance Policy Discussions?" International Journal of Water Resources Development 27:4, 633-645.
  • Wilchens, D. (2015). "Virtual water and water footprints: Overreaching into the discourse on sustainability, efficiency, and equity". Water Alternatives 8(3): 396- 414.
  • Zhao, X., Chen, B., Yang, Z. (2009). "National water footprint in an input-output framework. A case study of China 2002". Ecological Modelling, 220: 245-253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2008.09.016
La source de données: Dialnet