Beyond deforestation: water use in global agricultural commodity supply chains

This SEI discussion brief examines the relationship between tropical deforestation and water use in agricultural commodity supply chains, specifically focusing on imports into the European Union. It argues that while current policy focuses on deforestation, overlooking water use may shift environmental burdens to water-scarce regions. The brief identifies critical data gaps for beef and wood products and suggests that a comprehensive definition of sustainable supply chains must integrate both land and water stewardship.

• The European Union's consumption of agricultural commodities was linked to nearly 20% of global tropical deforestation (approximately 240,000 hectares) in 2017.
• Agricultural commodities most associated with tropical deforestation in EU supply chains, such as oil palm, beef, wood, and soy, rely almost entirely on 'green water' (precipitation), making them vulnerable to regional climate change and precipitation variability.
• Certain commodities consumed in the EU that are not necessarily linked to deforestation pose significant water scarcity risks due to their reliance on irrigation ('blue water'), particularly those sourced from the Middle East and Asia, such as pistachios, cotton, linseed, rice, sugar cane, and maize.
• Deforestation in South America disrupts the water cycle by reducing the 'flying rivers'—atmospheric watercourses created by forest evapotranspiration—which can increase local temperatures by up to 2.5°C and reduce downwind rainfall.
• Significant global data 'blind spots' exist regarding water use for beef and wood products. Beef water use is difficult to estimate due to diverse production systems, and wood products require complex calculations for tree development and ecosystem services.
• In the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, an initial assessment found that half of the water used for cattle was attributed to the evaporation of farm impoundments used for drinking water.

APA

Lathuillière, M., Ran, Y., West, C., Croft, S., Flach, R., & Wang-Erlandsson, L. (2022). Beyond deforestation: water use in global agricultural commodity supply chains. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/220506a-burton-lathuillière-deforestation-water-2201c-brief.pdf

Chicago

Lathuillière, Michael, Ylva Ran, Chris West, Simon Croft, Rafaela Flach, and Lan Wang-Erlandsson. Beyond deforestation: water use in global agricultural commodity supply chains. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/220506a-burton-lathuillière-deforestation-water-2201c-brief.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{lathuillire2022beyond, author = {Lathuillière, Michael and Ran, Ylva and West, Chris and Croft, Simon and Flach, Rafaela and Wang-Erlandsson, Lan}, title = {{Beyond deforestation: water use in global agricultural commodity supply chains}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/220506a-burton-lathuillière-deforestation-water-2201c-brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }