European Consumer Day 2024 focused on Water challenges: Exploring consumer perspectives - Moving ahead with the EU Blue Deal. The event stressed the need for sustainable water management, improved infrastructure and consumer education to make sure water remains affordable to all Europeans

As revealed at the European Consumer Day held by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on 9 December, with the price of water expected to rise by 25% by 2030, the EU will need to invest more than EUR 250 billion to meet Europe’s water needs and build a society in which everyone has access to clean, affordable water.

Water is becoming a scarce resource, even in Europe: as many as 30% of Europeans face water stress at least once a year. This means that consumers, who on average still see water as an expendable commodity, will have to change their behaviour to use it more efficiently, both by becoming more aware of their water footprint and by using smart water-saving technologies.

However, the major polluters should also pay the price and not leave consumers to shoulder their hidden expenses.

With 15 000 litres of water used to produce just one kilo of meat and 8 000 litres for one pair of jeans, big water spenders (such as manufacturing and especially agriculture, which accounts for 72% of all water withdrawals) will also have to bear the cost of their environmental impact and invest in better production facilities.

‘Water should be seen as a fundamental part of the European Commission’s forthcoming flagship policy initiatives. We would like to see the new Water Coalition launched to help implement the European Blue Deal, and we are currently working on the creation of the European Blue Deal Stakeholder Platform,’ said Milena Angelova, rapporteur for the EESC opinion on Waterefficient consumption and consumer awareness of their water footprint. She underlined the importance of the EU Blue Deal as a key initiative of the EESC, a ‘pioneering EU institution’ when it comes to water issues.

In his keynote speech, Gaetano Casale, Director of the Liaison Office of the IHE DELFT Institute for Water Education, said that water is still undervalued in Europe. In his view, a sustainable approach to water is now absolutely essential, and calls for increased awareness of the environmental costs, the challenges of a growing world population and climate change.

‘I would be glad if we all together—citizens, governments, agencies, scientists, industry, and lawmakers—seized this unique opportunity and took a comprehensive leap forward to make one of our most valuable resources, water—in the ground, in the sea, and in the sky—future-proof’, said Hildegard Bentele, the European Parliament’s shadow rapporteur on the Water Framework Directive. (ll)