Research Brief Collection // The Water-Energy-Land-Climate Nexus (Project Summary)

From Payment for Ecosystem services to Transboundary River Basin Organisations: The interdependencies in the use of resources and the safe provision of water and energy as well as the production of food become apparent. The production of agro-fuels, for example, requires precious water and occupies land that could be used to grow food. Intensive agricultural use in upper watersheds of rivers can intensify erosions and affect electricity generation from hydropower plants downstream. Energy subsidies increase the affordability irrigation pumps for farmers but they lower groundwater levels. Not only climate change, but also climate-change mitigation measures may enhance the pressure on water and land resources. The BMZ funded Water - Energy - Land - Climate Nexus project focuses explicitly on these intersectoral dependencies. Research at the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) inquires which incentives, governance mechanism and policy instruments could reduce negative effects and stimulate win-win solutions.