Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Water Scarcity in Developing Countries Threatens Europe’s Economy | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page
Media ID: 55378699
Caption:

An internally displaced woman uses a water pump to fill her containers at the water point in Zam Zam IDP camp in Al Fasher, northern Darfur March 12, 2009. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra


London- The European Union is ramping up efforts to understand the risks of water scarcity in developing countries driven by climate change on Europe’s food supplies like rice and cotton.

The report, entitled vulnerabilities of Europe’s economy to global water scarcity and drought, revealed that supplies of animal feed, rice, cotton, grapes and even pistachios could be impacted in the near future as they come from regions that have a shortage of water.

Prof. Bart van den Hurk, researcher at the EU-funded IMPREX project, which produced the report said that right now it is more like an alert. “The next step is really to look at climate change indicators in the areas of exposure, and to understand the difficulties that will be faced by Europe,” he added.

Dr. Ertug Ercin, the lead author of the report, said that they were surprised when they realized the threats encountering the products exported to Europe. “Can you imagine the chocolate industry without cocoa. These (industries) are so vulnerable, and that is shocking,” said Dr. Ercin.