학술논문

Bridging the gap between the water-energy-food nexus and compound risks
Document Type
article
Source
Environmental Research Letters, Vol 19, Iss 2, p 024004 (2024)
Subject
water-energy-food nexus
compound risk
complex risk
cascading risk
case study
Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
TD1-1066
Environmental sciences
GE1-350
Science
Physics
QC1-999
Language
English
ISSN
1748-9326
Abstract
The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is a concept and approach to examine the interactions of water, energy, and food resources. Similarly, compound risks are a set of risk types that consider multiple connected factors that amplify risks. While both concepts are promoted as approaches to move beyond silos and address complex problems in environmental governance, there has been limited exploration of their overlap. Our study integrates these two approaches for more holistic assessment and management of resources in the context of climate risks. We examine the connections between the WEF nexus and compound risk in two ways. First, we review the literature to identify previous conceptual connections between the WEF nexus and compound risks. Second, we review seven case studies with WEF nexus interactions and compound risks to identify how the two approaches might be considered in practice. Our results demonstrate that there is limited, though not non-existent, integration of the two concepts in both the theoretical literature and in the case studies. The four of the seven cases that do show some level of connection in practice demonstrate opportunities for greater integration in the future, such as leveraging the water sector as a bridge to address WEF nexus and compound risk challenges together.