The project 

If the world continues along its historical pathway of deforestation, it will find itself depleted of much of its green water endowments and desiccated much of its blue water resources through mismanagement and diversions. In a scenario of increasing water stress, especially in the areas where water is already scarce, the project aims to investigate the economic dimensions of the global services provided by water and the economic significance of green water, focusing on the costs that would be incurred by the continuing lack of incisive policy actions (“The Cost of Inaction”).

In this context, an international research team led by Prof. Pasquale Lucio Scandizzo at the Tor Vergata Foundation, will have a central role, in collaboration with other international partners, to develop economic models. These will aim to assess changes in total water storage and other measures of water endowments and the economic implications under various scenarios. Linked economic and ecosystem models will be used to determine the economic cost of degrading green and blue water resources, under a business-as-usual pathway.