Nexus in Central Asia // The Essence of the Nexus Approach in the Context of Global Risks
By Saltanat Zhakenova. This paper is the second in a series on the Nexus in Central Asia. It discusses how to achieve water, energy, food and environmental security.
This article relates the water-energy-food security nexus to major global challenges such as:
- economic growth
- population growth
- urbanisation and
- climate change
All the above factors combined have an effect upon the growth and change in the structure of consumption of water, energy and food resources. Moreover, they simultaneously increase the burden on the natural environment by reducing its self-healing powers.
The latest World Economic Forum report on global risks has shown that water, food and environmental crises are among the top ten risks, because of their impact on global sustainable development. The inter-sector coordination of managing these risks constitutes an authentically systemic problem. Although the relationship between water, energy, food and ecosystems is generally accepted, the integrated vision has not been sufficiently studied. Case studies, methods and instruments assessing the synergy of the sectors as a whole are of particular importance in the context of investment in developing countries. They should ultimately bring to life a decision-making-framework for politicians, business leaders, investors, non-governmental organisations and the general public.