Resource Management of the Future Cannot Work Without the Food-Water-Energy Nexus

Population grows at an unprecedented speed. And so do cities. Resources are increasingly scarce which makes managing them in a sustainable way a top priority. Governments, however, focus too much on individual resource groups instead of viewing the big picture of interconnections, which greatly curtails their achievements.

With the world population growing at a rate of around 80 million people a year, it is estimated that by 2030 the world will need 30% more water, 40% more energy and 50% more food. Water, food and energy security are crucial for long-term economic growth and human well-being. Cities are fortunately aware of these challenges and have started to implement strategies for sustainable resource management. An especially great number of cities has for instance recognised the need to install smart water management systems. Among these is Las Vegas – a huge urban conglomerate, known all around the world for its enormous offer of entertainment and extravaganza, located right within a desert. Its pressure to reform its way of water usage was thus particularly high. Now measures like rainwater harvesting, seawater distillation, wastewater reuse, cross-sectoral water trading or leakage reduction are part of the city’s standard repertoire.

Efforts like these shall be by no means disregarded. They demonstrate the existence of a will to alter our system of careless hyper-consumption, which is an essential starting point. Nevertheless, enthusiasm must not render us blind for deficits implemented policies contain, because there are actually problems arising when centring management strategies upon one resource only. Looking at scarcity of certain sectors in an isolated perspective ignores the interconnections that exist between the various resources. To clarify, more food means more water and energy (for food production) while more water means more energy (for treating the water used).

Vice-versa, water can also be used to produce energy (by using hydro-power plants), while biomass is increasingly being used for the production of energy. All these connections and trade-offs need to be considered when aiming for a truly effective approach combatting resource scarcity. Policies like the water management of Las Vegas are too one-sided and can even run the risk of increasing instead of alleviating harm. A holistic strategy can therefore only be one that takes a paradigm shift towards “nexus thinking”.

Luckily, there are already several international frameworks and focus groups researching and promoting the food-water-energy nexus: For example, the EU stresses the importance for coherent policies in its “Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe”, and European food chain partners published a joint declaration in 2014 underlining the significance of the named interlinkages. Also, the Future Earth 2025 Vision mentions the nexus as a major challenge. Such stances point in the right direction and are in accordance with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. It is an absolute necessity for all stakeholder involved to realise that SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) and SDG7 (affordable and clean energy) are only achievable when viewed in connection. As cities are at the forefront of reform, it is their obligation to take these new insights into account and create a
secure and prosperous future for all.

Links

http://wefnexus.tamu.edu/files/2015/01/Mohtar-Daher_Water-Energy-and-Food-The-Ultimate-Nexus.pdf
https://www.degruyter.com/downloadpdf/j/cass.2015.2.issue-1/cass-2015-0018/cass-2015-0018.pdf

Keywords

nexus, resource management, population growth, water, energy, food, sustainability, hyper-consumption,
scarcity, Sustainable Development Goals