Doubling of the global freshwater footprint of material production over two decades

Wang, Y., Ma, F., Wang, H., Tzachor, A., Jiang, M., Fang, K., Liang, S., Zhu, B., Hertwich, E.G., Lenzen, M., Schandl, H., & Lutter, S. (2025). Doubling of the global freshwater footprint of material production over two decades. Nature Sustainability 10.1038/s41893-025-01661-2. (In Press)

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Abstract

Producing essential, widely used materials such as steel, cement, paper, plastics and rubber requires substantial freshwater resources, which may exacerbate water scarcity. Despite this, comprehensive research on freshwater embodied in material production remains limited. Here we assess the blue water footprint (WFblue) of 16 metallic and non-metallic material categories across 164 regions, using a multiregional input–output model and the hypothetical extraction method. Our findings indicate that the global WFblue of material production doubled from 25.1 billion m3 in 1995 to 50.7 billion m3 in 2021, raising its share in global blue water consumption from 2.8% to 4.7%. The East, South Asia and Oceania regions saw an alarming 267% surge in WFblue for material production, with China—already facing medium-high water stress—experiencing a dramatic ~400% increase. As material production is expected to grow, we underscore the urgency of a water–materials nexus approach, particularly in water-stressed countries.

Item Type:	Article
Research Programs:	Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE)
Related URLs:	Dataset - https://ielab.info/labs/ielab-gloria
Depositing User:	Michaela Rossini
Date Deposited:	03 Dec 2025 09:39
Last Modified:	03 Dec 2025 09:39
URI:	https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/21020

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