There are numerous ways in which the water, energy, and food sectors are interconnected. Thus “actions in one sector” may either help or harm the other two. Disconnected approaches and silo thinking are more likely to make matters worse. The Nexus perspective helps to increase the understanding of the interdependencies across the water, energy, food and other sectors and policies such as climate and biodiversity. It opens the eyes for mutually beneficial responses and the potential of cooperation.

Rio de Janeiro

A central aspect of the Green Economy is water, energy and food security in particular for the bottom billion. In order to achieve this, it is of vital importance to consider the interlinkages and the interactions between the sectors. Incoherent approaches and “silo-thinking” will most likely worsen the situation further.

Collecting inputs for the Bonn2011 Nexus Conference preparatory process

A voice from the ground, Edward Byers, PhD student from Newcastle/UK, gives his view of the NEXUS event at the German Pavilion in Rio.

International experts comment on the main topics of the Bonn2011 Nexus Conference

The Water-energy-food nexus (or other permutations) is increasingly finding itself in the public discourse surrounding development and sustainability. It is a concept that is easy to understand on the face of things, yet like a ball of wool unravels itself into a myriad of complex and dynamic relationships. In fact some have long studied some of the components in detail, such as water use for agriculture and use of crops for bioenergy. And yet despite the fact that these three resources are amongst the most important resources for human survival, the attention they have received as a single interdependent issue has been inadequate. – This is of interest to me in particular because my research is based around the water-energy nexus. Indeed, there is an aspect of food/agriculture in there too, which would be more prominent if the UK aimed to source all of its food from the UK … I digress.

Environment secretary says it’s time to shatter the myth that you can’t be green and growing – The clouds may be gathering around the Rio +20 Earth Summit next week with walkouts marring last-minute talks, the negotiating text remaining a mess of brackets and clauses, commentators convinced the summit will end as a damp squib, and the row over David Cameron’s refusal to attend refusing to die down.

The World Water Week 2012 in Stockholm will zoom in on food security and the global water situation. This is warranted not least from the perspective of the increasing imbalances in global food security. In this article, Dr. Anders Jägerskog sums up the thrust of a report he edited on this topic, which is meant to provide input for the Week’s deliberations.

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

Lowering consumption in the developed world, renewables, ending land grabs, a price for natural resources, private sector investment – what’s the answer?