Water productivity, exploitation and footprint: Obsolete concepts or representative tools in understanding european environmental policy?

Abstract

In contemporary economies, water represents a key resource in ensuring the sustainable economic development, being equally a factor of production in the economic branches, and also a relevant indicator in shaping the evolution of human activity. Water resources are vital for humanity, ecosystems and the economy, and its inefficient use is a serious problem. The main aim of the present research was to analyse and evaluate the impact of water use, from the perspective of a sustainable economic development, and to determine to what extent it can become a relevant indicator in this respect. For this purpose, three indicators were considered: water productivity, water exploitation index and water footprint. Based on the findings highlighted in the research, it can be concluded that the considered indicators can constitute representative instruments in understanding the European environmental policy.