The Planetary Water Drama: Dual Task of Feeding Humanity and Curbing Climate Change

The paper argues that the consumptive water use required for carbon sequestration and food production by 2050 would exceed the proposed planetary boundary for freshwater and worsen river depletion. It concludes that because of these high freshwater costs, the primary climate mitigation strategy must be the reduction of emissions rather than relying on sequestration.

• The consumptive water use required for the dual tasks of carbon sequestration and food production would exceed the proposed planetary boundary for global freshwater use and increase the depletion of rivers, leading to societal issues regarding water allocation and shortages.
• Due to the high freshwater costs associated with CO2 sequestration, the most critical strategy for climate mitigation should be the reduction of emissions.
• There is a necessity to evaluate the trade-offs between water and carbon specifically regarding large-scale biofuel production as a mitigation strategy to understand its impacts compared to carbon sequestration.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2012). The Planetary Water Drama: Dual Task of Feeding Humanity and Curbing Climate Change. https://www.sei.org/publications/the-planetary-water-drama-dual-task-of-feeding-humanity-and-curbing-climate-change/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. The Planetary Water Drama: Dual Task of Feeding Humanity and Curbing Climate Change. 2012. https://www.sei.org/publications/the-planetary-water-drama-dual-task-of-feeding-humanity-and-curbing-climate-change/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=The Planetary Water Drama: Dual Task of Feeding Humanity and Curbing Climate Change |date=10 August 2012 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/the-planetary-water-drama-dual-task-of-feeding-humanity-and-curbing-climate-change/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2012planetary, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{The Planetary Water Drama: Dual Task of Feeding Humanity and Curbing Climate Change}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2012}, month = aug, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/the-planetary-water-drama-dual-task-of-feeding-humanity-and-curbing-climate-change/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }