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The Water Resources Rebound Effect Threatening the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6)

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  • Yingchun Ge

    (Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing of Gansu Province, Heihe Remote Sensing Experimental Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China)

  • Jing Wang

    (Gansu Food Inspection and Research Institute, Lanzhou 730030, China)

Abstract

Coaction of climate change and human activities exerts a significant impact on the fate of water resources, provoking the rebound effect in water resources and threatening the achievement of SDG (sustainable development goal) 6. However, the mechanisms of interactions between this effect and SDG 6 and how to decrease this effect towards the achievement of SDG 6 are less known. In this paper, a water resources rebound effect (WRRE) model is integrated into a river basin sustainable development decision support system to simulate and project the interactions between the WRRE and SDG 6 under multiple combination scenarios. The results show that multiple drivers, including precipitation, technological advances, and ecological water flow, coaffect the WRRE, not the silo technology factor. The transfer fate of the saved water is a major root cause leading to the WRRE and harming the achievement of SDG 6, and the WRRE is positively correlated to SDG 6 overall, which, nevertheless, can sometimes be reversed by technological advances. Our outcomes indicate that decoupling SDG 6 from the WRRE can promote the achievement of SDG 6 and decrease the rebound effect, relying on holistic integration that couples climatic, socioeconomic, and behavioral interaction between SDG 6 and the WRRE and translation of scientific research into available decision-making information for strict scientific-research-based policy actions.

Suggested Citation

  • Yingchun Ge & Jing Wang, 2024. "The Water Resources Rebound Effect Threatening the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-14, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:10:p:4155-:d:1395354
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