Please join us for our first CSS Research Forum of Winter 2018.
Whether you are brand new to CSS or a veteran, you are strongly encouraged to come join us and hear about the work other researchers are doing.
We will serve a selection of PIES.
When: Friday, January 26, 2018 - 1:00 to 2:30 PM.
Where: 1028 Dana Building
We'll hear presentations from:
Shen Qu - Postdoctoral Fellow
Title: Water Scarcity Risk to the Global Trade System
Abstract: As an essential resource for human society, water has become increasingly “virtual” (i.e., embedded in traded products) due to international and inter-regional trade. An extensive literature has shown that virtual water trade has enhanced water use efficiency on the global scale, but little attention has been paid to the other side of the coin: water-related risks to the trade system. Indeed, trade has exacerbated water scarcity in some already water-stressed regions due to the underlying difficulties in water management, and climate change will only complicate the situation. To evaluate water scarcity risk to the global trade system, we develop a framework integrating risk analysis, input-output economics, and complex network analysis, using data on regional renewable water supply, sectoral water consumption, and multi-regional input-output trade structure. “Hotspot” nation-sectors, where water scarcity may cause major loss to the global trade system, are identified. Also, risks to national economic systems from foreign (physical) water scarcity are revealed and decomposed according to origins. Such analyses help decision makers such as water managers understand the broader socioeconomic impacts of water scarcity in an increasingly globalized world, and may serve as a foundation for government negotiation and economic choices in relation to water scarcity risk.
