Governance of globalized water resources: the application of the water footprint to inform corporate strategy and government policy

Managing the water footprint of humanity is something in which both governments and businesses have a key role. The actual reduction of humanity's water footprint depends on the combination of what governments, businesses and consumers do and how their different actions reinforce (or counteract) one another. Therefore, we need improved understanding of how water footprint reduction strategies by governments on the one hand and companies on the other hand can reinforce or counteract each other in achieving actual reduction of humanity's water footprint. The objective of this thesis is to understand how the water footprint concept can be used as a tool to inform governments and businesses about sustainable, efficient and equitable water use and allocation. This study alternately takes a governmental and a corporate perspective, because both actors have a significant role in mitigating the water footprint of humanity and there is a strong interaction between the roles and responsibilities of both actors.