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L. L. Benites-Lazaro et al.
1 Introduction
The provision of water, food, and energy to supply the demand of the growing global
population are considered one of the greatest contemporary challenges today. The
world population is expected to reach 9.7 by 2050 which, in addition to changes in
consumption patterns could exacerbate human pressure on natural resources [46].
In addition to this challenge, humanity will also have to deal with the scarcity of
agricultural land, the degradation of natural resources, urban problems, the impacts
of climate change, and consequently, conflicts arising from disputes over natural
resources [13, 36, 37].
In different parts of the world, natural ecosystems have been disturbed by agricultural expansion and infrastructure implemented to produce and distribute energy.
These disturbances have triggered disastrous impacts on biodiversity and climate
system [17, 28, 40]. Studies show that climate change, especially an increase in global
temperatures and the occurrence of extreme weather events, is already starting to
impact agricultural production worldwide, and risks compromising the productive
capacity of several countries in the near future [38, 39]. Another aspect of food
production is its high demand for water. Worldwide agricultural production is responsible for 70% of global water consumption, which makes it highly dependent on
this resource. Scenarios produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nation (FAO) have estimated an increase of 34% in the global area of irrigated agriculture, which should represent a 14% increase in the demand for water
for irrigation [16]. In addition to being essential to human survival, water is also the
main source of power generation in many countries, through hydropower [29]. Of
all the energy consumed in the world, it is estimated that 30% is consumed during
the food production process [16].
The nexus approach arises from an understanding that water, food and energy security are crucial to human well-being and that these three sectors are interconnected.
Human well-being is understood as essential resources needed for human survival
and social equity [19]. For this reason, the nexus approach has among its fundamental
premises a ‘responsible governance’ of natural resources, integrated and participatory
management of these resources, and the dialogue between different actors in favor of
environmental governance [8]. Although the nexus has been gaining ground in political arenas, the creation of opportunities to integrate management, and mechanisms to
involve different actors in decision-making, as well as adapting technical languages
and methodologies for socio-political debate spaces, represent important challenges
to concisely apply the nexus in the design of an integrated public management of the
three sectors of the nexus.
However, the challenges of the nexus approach and its promise for achieving
integrated decision-making and coherence in policy-making are particularly acute
because sectors operate and policies are executed in areas under different institutional
frameworks at different scales and through several actors with economic and political
divergent interest [42, 47]. This creates the need for methods and techniques for
studying and elucidating the complexity of our society, since that “approximately
L. L. Benites-Lazaro et al.
1 Introduction
The provision of water, food, and energy to supply the demand of the growing global
population are considered one of the greatest contemporary challenges today. The
world population is expected to reach 9.7 by 2050 which, in addition to changes in
consumption patterns could exacerbate human pressure on natural resources [46].
In addition to this challenge, humanity will also have to deal with the scarcity of
agricultural land, the degradation of natural resources, urban problems, the impacts
of climate change, and consequently, conflicts arising from disputes over natural
resources [13, 36, 37].
In different parts of the world, natural ecosystems have been disturbed by agricultural expansion and infrastructure implemented to produce and distribute energy.
These disturbances have triggered disastrous impacts on biodiversity and climate
system [17, 28, 40]. Studies show that climate change, especially an increase in global
temperatures and the occurrence of extreme weather events, is already starting to
impact agricultural production worldwide, and risks compromising the productive
capacity of several countries in the near future [38, 39]. Another aspect of food
production is its high demand for water. Worldwide agricultural production is responsible for 70% of global water consumption, which makes it highly dependent on
this resource. Scenarios produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nation (FAO) have estimated an increase of 34% in the global area of irrigated agriculture, which should represent a 14% increase in the demand for water
for irrigation [16]. In addition to being essential to human survival, water is also the
main source of power generation in many countries, through hydropower [29]. Of
all the energy consumed in the world, it is estimated that 30% is consumed during
the food production process [16].
The nexus approach arises from an understanding that water, food and energy security are crucial to human well-being and that these three sectors are interconnected.
Human well-being is understood as essential resources needed for human survival
and social equity [19]. For this reason, the nexus approach has among its fundamental
premises a ‘responsible governance’ of natural resources, integrated and participatory
management of these resources, and the dialogue between different actors in favor of
environmental governance [8]. Although the nexus has been gaining ground in political arenas, the creation of opportunities to integrate management, and mechanisms to
involve different actors in decision-making, as well as adapting technical languages
and methodologies for socio-political debate spaces, represent important challenges
to concisely apply the nexus in the design of an integrated public management of the
three sectors of the nexus.
However, the challenges of the nexus approach and its promise for achieving
integrated decision-making and coherence in policy-making are particularly acute
because sectors operate and policies are executed in areas under different institutional
frameworks at different scales and through several actors with economic and political
divergent interest [42, 47]. This creates the need for methods and techniques for
studying and elucidating the complexity of our society, since that “approximately