Webchat hosted by Dick Benschop, President Director Shell Netherlands and Jeremy Bentham, Vice President Global Business Environment

Collecting inputs for the Bonn2011 Nexus Conference preparatory process

The question of how to effectively use our water resources has been debated for decades, yet what we need more than ever is direct action at the field level.

A message from Felix Dodds, Executive Director of the Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future and International Steering Committee (ISC) Member

Today at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, I had the good fortune of chairing a most interesting workshop on addressing resource scarcity. It was organised by Shell. Over the coming two decades, the growth of population and prosperity will significantly increase the global demand for energy, water and food, perhaps beyond planetary boundaries. This is known as the “stress nexus” and how are we to address it? - by Francis Vorhies

Last year, Shell released Signals and Signposts, which analyzed long-term energy scenarios and concluded that we are in an era of volatile transitions at the economic, political and social levels. The stresses building in our global systems, such as water, food and energy production, will make industrial and social transformations inevitable. We must acknowledge the links between these stresses and “connect the dots,” before it is too late.

The ‘nexus’ has become a popular buzz word to describe the complex linkages among water, energy and food security – sectors that have traditionally remained fairly separate. Talk of the water-energy-food nexus was a hot topic at last month’s Planet Under Pressure conference; it is also the focus of a significant German government-organised input to the UN Rio+20 Summit. What has brought nexus thinking to the fore, and what does this nexus look like? How does it relate to climate compatible development?

“The flapping of a butterfly’s wings may or may not have the capacity to trigger a tornado on another continent, but without a doubt, our food, water and energy systems have profound impacts upon each other (and us, and our planet). With that in mind, we’re excited to introduce our new GRACE website, which we built to reflect the interconnected nature of these three systems.”

Ahead of the online live debate on water, food and energy on 6 February 2013, Gordon Conway and Liz Wilson explain the urgent global challenges in food security and some innovative solutions.