The Global Commission’s report sets out the shifts required to drive radical changes in how water is valued, managed, and used. The new economics of water begins by recognising that the water cycle must now be governed as a global common good, that can only be fixed collectively, through concerted action in every country, collaboration across boundaries and cultures, and for benefits that will be felt everywhere.
This policy brief looks at the implications of the Global Commission’s findings in the light of agricultural trade and how virtual water trade can serve as a stabiliser to increase efficiency, equity and environmental sustainability in global water use.
A special thank you is extended to Marta Tuninetti and Elena de Petrillo at Politecnico di Torino for their support in analysing and visualising the virtual water trade flows.
