THE ROLE OF VIRTUAL WATER TRADE IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF GLOBAL WATER RESOURCES: an assessment based on a systematic literature review.

uma avaliação a partir de uma revisão sistemática da literatura

Abstract

Population growth and the growth of economic activities have generated a significant increase in water demand on a global scale, contributing to an increase in water stress over the years. As an alternative to reduce the economic-environmental impacts between the supply and demand of water, the strategy of commercializing virtual water was adopted. In light of this, this study asks: How does the virtual water trade contribute to the flow and distribution of global water? This article aims to present a systematic review of studies considering the terms “virtual water trade” and “virtual water flow”, with works published between the years 2017-2021. For this, a systematic review of the literature was carried out with a search for scientific articles, conference articles, review articles and early access, in the database of the Web of Science Core Collection. The results indicated that most of the studies were carried out in China and in Asian countries, in which the volume of virtual water and the flow of virtual water were calculated. The agricultural sector is the economic sector with the largest water footprint in food exporting regions and that direct consumption of water from primary industry was responsible for total water consumption in industrialized regions. This study proposed that increasing the cyclical strength of industry on local economic systems are effective measures to reduce water loss and improve use efficiency.