Managing Water Sustainability: Virtual Water Flows and Economic Water Productivity Assessment of the Wine Trade between Italy and the Balkans

Pier Paolo Miglietta,Domenico Morrone

doi:10.3390/su10020543

Pier Paolo Miglietta, Domenico Morrone

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020543

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Abstract

The management of natural resources in economic activities has become a fundamental issue when considering the perspective of sustainable development. It is necessary to rethink every process in order to reach efficiency from different points of view, not only environmentally but also economically. Water scarcity is growing because of economic and population growth, climate change, and the increasing water demand. Currently, agri-food represents the most water consumptive sector, and the increasing importance of international trade in this industry puts freshwater issues in a global context that should be analyzed and regulated by sustainable policies. This analysis is focused on virtual water flows and economic water productivity related to the wine trade, and aims to evaluate water loss/savings achieved through bilateral trade relations. The choice fell on Italy, the first wine producer in the world, and the Balkan countries. The latter are new markets for wine production/consumption, in which Italian wines are strongly positioned for different reasons. The results show that, from a national point of view and considering wine trade, Italy exports water in virtual form to the Balkan countries, more than it imports, so that in effect it partially uses its own water resources for the wine supply of the Balkans. The latter, on the other hand, being a net importer of wine, partially depends on Italian water resources and exerts less pressure on their own water basins in the supporting wine supply. We also observed that the wine trade between Italy and the Balkans implies global water savings.

Highlights

The use of natural resources in economic activities has been subjected, in the last decades, to a deep revision
For the purposes of this study, we considered products identified with the following six-digit level codes: 220410, 220421, 220429, and 220430 of Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, known as the Harmonized System (HS) of tariff nomenclature
And the countries belonging to the geographical boundaries of the Balkan Peninsula have different water footprint structures concerning wine productions (Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

The use of natural resources in economic activities has been subjected, in the last decades, to a deep revision. Companies need to reduce their environmental impact [1], considering, in the enlarged vision, all dimensions (environmental, social, and economic) of sustainable development [2]. This could be difficult, but considering first materials, energy savings, and switching to cleaner productions, it is often a source for competitive advantage in terms of cost savings and/or differentiation, as stated by different authors [3,4,5,6]. The green change has a positive effect in terms of economic and technological efficiency but, as observed above, it is a very notable way to differentiate products and services [8], transforming the modern evolution of marketing into sustainable marketing [9], which has the goal of creating customer value, as well as social and ecological value [10]

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