Twentieth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Climate change and population growth are increasing the strain on natural resources in the Mediterranean region to a point where they may compromise the sustainable provisioning of water and food. Following the objective of the UN SDGs and the water- ecosystems-food-energy (WEFE) nexus to ensure sustainable development through better management of linked resources, the focus of this study in progress is to learn about the economic modelling of the WEFE linkage in the Mediterranean Sea basin (MSB). A variety of modelling approaches that embed water into a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) framework is available. However, only a limited number of studies incorporate alternative water sources (e.g., desalination, treated, brackish) into economic analyses. Alternative water sources vary in energy and capital intensity, and, therefore, in costs and externalities. The study introduces natural and alternative water sources to a global CGE model (GTAP). It also investigates the role of novel technologies of controlled-environment agriculture that save water and land at the cost of higher energy intensity compared to traditional practices. Finally, the impact of climate change focusing on WEFE in the Mediterranean is analysed according to a comparative static procedure. The results show that alternative water sources, precise aquaculture, and international trade are essential in adaptation even to moderate climate change in the Mediterranean.