Research // System Complexity and Policy Integration Challenges: the Brazilian Energy-Water-Food Nexus
By J.-F. Mercure, et al. The Energy-Water-Food Nexus is one of the most complex sustainability challenges faced by the world. This is particularly true in Brazil, where insufficiently understood interactions within the Nexus are contributing to large-scale deforestation and land-use change, water and energy scarcity, and increased vulnerability to climate change. In this paper, we identify and discuss the main Nexus challenges faced by Brazil across sectors (e.g. energy, agriculture, water) and scales (e.g. federal, state, municipal). We use four case studies to explore all nodes of the Nexus.
Table of content
- Review of the general context
- Global and local environmental change
- Global economic change driving environmental degradation
- Overview of the domestic policy landscape addressing the nexus in Brazil
- International law and policy influencing the nexus in Brazil
- Nexus analysis: four case studies
- Selection of case studies of cross-sectoral interactions
- Water-Energy - hydroelectricity and climate change
- Food-Energy - liquid biofuels and competition for land between food and energy
- Water-Food - climate change impacts on food and water
- Energy-Water-Food - indirect land-use change and deforestation
- Discussion and concluding remarks
Authors
- J.-F. Mercure
- M.A. Paim
- P. Bocquillon
- S. Lindner
- P. Salas
- P. Martinelli
- I.I. Berchin
- J.B.S.O.A. Guerra
- C. Derani
- C. L. de Albuquerque Junior
- J.M.P. Ribeiro
- F. Knobloch
- H. Pollitt
- N. R. Edwards
- P. B. Holden
- A. Foley
- S. Schaphoff
- R.A. Faraco
- J.E. Vhiuales