Dietary changes could compensate for potential yield reductions upon global river flow protection

dc.contributorAalto-yliopistofi
dc.contributorAalto Universityen
dc.contributor.authorBraun, Johannaen_US
dc.contributor.authorStenzel, Fabianen_US
dc.contributor.authorBodirsky, Benjamin Leonen_US
dc.contributor.authorJalava, Mikaen_US
dc.contributor.authorGerten, Dieteren_US
dc.contributor.departmentDepartment of Built Environmenten
dc.contributor.groupauthorWater and Environmental Engineeringen
dc.contributor.organizationPotsdam Institute for Climate Impact Researchen_US
dc.contributor.organizationHumboldt-Universität zu Berlinen_US
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-07T08:48:41Z
dc.date.available2022-09-07T08:48:41Z
dc.date.issued2022-07-11en_US
dc.descriptionPublisher Copyright: © 2022 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.
dc.description.abstractNon-technical Summary Globally, freshwater systems are degrading due to excessive water withdrawals. We estimate that if rivers' environmental flow requirements were protected, the associated decrease in irrigation water availability would reduce global yields by ~5%. As one option to increase food supply within limited water resources, we show that dietary changes towards less livestock products could compensate for this effect. If all currently grown edible feed was directly consumed by humans, we estimate that global food supply would even increase by 19%. We thus provide evidence that dietary changes are an important strategy to harmonize river flow protection with sustained food supply. Technical Summary To protect global freshwater ecosystems and restore their integrity, freshwater withdrawals could be restricted to maintain rivers' environmental flow requirements (EFRs). However, without further measures, reduced irrigation water availability would decrease crop yields and put additional pressure on global food provision. By comparing the quantitative effects of both global EFR protection and dietary changes on regional and global food supply in a spatially explicit modelling framework, we show that dietary changes towards less livestock products could effectively contribute to solving this trade-off. Results indicate that protection of EFRs would almost halve current global irrigation water withdrawals and reduce global crop yields by 5%. Limiting animal protein share to 25%, 12.5% and 0% of total protein supply and shifting released crop feed to direct human consumption could however increase global food supply by 4%, 11% and 19%, respectively. The effects are geographically decoupled: Water-scarce regions such as the Middle East, or South and Central Asia would be most affected by EFR protection, whereas dietary changes are most effective in North America and Europe. This underpins the disproportionally high responsibilities of countries with resource-intensive diets and the need for regionally adapted and diverse strategies to transform the global food system towards sustainability. Social Media Summary Combining dietary changes and global river flow protection could contribute to a more sustainable food system.en
dc.description.versionPeer revieweden
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationBraun, J, Stenzel, F, Bodirsky, B L, Jalava, M & Gerten, D 2022, ' Dietary changes could compensate for potential yield reductions upon global river flow protection ', Global Sustainability, vol. 5, 14 . https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2022.12en
dc.identifier.doi10.1017/sus.2022.12en_US
dc.identifier.issn2059-4798
dc.identifier.otherPURE UUID: c56c8e9f-50ba-47f3-9d7a-8b3b07b268aaen_US
dc.identifier.otherPURE ITEMURL: https://research.aalto.fi/en/publications/c56c8e9f-50ba-47f3-9d7a-8b3b07b268aaen_US
dc.identifier.otherPURE LINK: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135156752&partnerID=8YFLogxKen_US
dc.identifier.otherPURE FILEURL: https://research.aalto.fi/files/87728066/Dietary_changes_could_compensate_for_potential_yield_reductions_upon_global_river_flow_protection.pdfen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/116592
dc.identifier.urnURN:NBN:fi:aalto-202209075402
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherCambridge University Press
dc.relation.ispartofseriesGlobal Sustainabilityen
dc.relation.ispartofseriesVolume 5en
dc.rightsopenAccessen
dc.titleDietary changes could compensate for potential yield reductions upon global river flow protectionen
dc.typeA1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessäfi
dc.type.versionpublishedVersion

Files