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The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus has, in the past decade, gained prominence as an approach for assessing integrated resource management. One challenge related to the WEF nexus approach is how to represent and monitor it since a system that includes water-, energy- and food-related parameters is complex. Not only are these resources quantified util...
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Context 1
... to the JRC:COIN, the first step in forming a composite indicator is the development of a framework for the system under assessment ( Saisana et al. 2018). To this end, the anthropocentric WEF nexus framework, presented in Figure 2, was utilised as the basis for the WEF Nexus Index's construction. At the core of this framework is human society, i.e. ...
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... the anthropocentric framework (refer to Figure 2) and the selection of indicators to form the WEF Nexus Index were presented at various forums during this project to facilitate stakeholder/expert engagement. These interactions proved to be beneficial in obtaining vital input on both the interpretation of the framework and the final selection of indicators. ...
Citations
... The WEF Nexus Tool 2.0 is a multi-stakeholder water, energy, and food resource allocation strategy assessment tool that identifies potential current and future nexus interlinkage bottlenecks to overcome resource stress challenges (Daher and Mohtar 2015;Lee et al. 2020). There are multiple other nexus tools such as WEF Nexus Index (Simpson et al. 2020); PRIMA (Kraucunas et al. 2015); WEF Nexus Assessment 1.0 (Flammini et al. 2014);Foreseer (Allwood et al. 2016;Price et al. 2018); Q-Nexus model (Karnib 2017;Karnib and Alameh 2020); EWF Nexus Tool (Al-Ansari et al. 2015); Pardee RAND WEF Security Index (Willis et al. 2016); and many others (Taguta et al. 2022;Sušnik and Staddon 2021;Stylianopoulou et al. 2020;Albrecht et al. 2018). ...
To enhance water, energy, and food security and promote ecosystems conservation, it is necessary to design policies or solutions capable of addressing cross-sectoral challenges. In this paper, GoNEXUS SEF, an evaluation framework for co-designing and evaluating nexus solutions, is presented. This framework provides guidelines for conducting a nexus-coherence assessment to improve the governance of the water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus. The assessment involves a participatory process that integrates qualitative and quantitative methodologies through systemic approaches. The crucial aspects necessary in the development of methodologies that address the nexus have been identified and considered. The framework was applied to a practical case study, an increase in the irrigation water price in Andalusia—Spain for the horizon of 2030. Case study results revealed that the measure can generate synergies since it favours water savings, irrigation water efficiency and ecosystems conservation. However, trade-offs are observed, mainly undermining the economic development of agriculture in the region. GoNEXUS SEF has proven capable of evaluating nexus solutions by measuring cross-sectoral synergies and trade-offs. It highlights hidden properties and identifies leverage points and key aspects of a complex cross-sectoral system to apply nexus solutions more effectively to promote sustainable development. In addition, the framework can be adapted to fit different case studies, considering their own challenges and their spatial and temporal scales, which gives it a competitive advantage over other methodologies focused on analysing the nexus.
Graphical abstarct
... The organization has positive and proactive behavior beyond the basic requirement hotspots (Eurostat, 2020a(Eurostat, , 2020b(Eurostat, , 2020c(Eurostat, , 2018International Labour Organization, 2022a, 2022b, 2022cOECD, 2022;Simpson et al., 2020) to screen impact subcategories for the site specific analysis. Figs. 3 and 4 refer to indicators of the Workers category. ...
... According to SDG target 6.5, by 2030 IWRM should have been implemented at all levels (United Nations, n.d.). Fig. 7 shows that Italy ranks lower than the European Union average according to the degree of IWRM implementation (Fig. S3) (Simpson et al., 2020). Italy scores high according to the UN in indicators "Enabling environment", "Institutions and participation", and "Management instruments", but much lower in "Financing". ...
... (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.) Water consumption and treatment based on: a) percentage of citizens using at least basic sanitation services, b) wastewater treatment, and c) annual freshwater withdrawals(Simpson et al., 2020). ...
... To identify the indicators influencing the WEF security nexus, the indicators in this study were selected based on the criteria defined in previous studies. Simpson et al. (2020) developed a composite indicator that can effectively measure the WEF nexus using a method developed by the European Commission. Flammini et al. (2014) proposed comprehensive indices for determining the interactions among WEF sectors. ...
With the exponential increase in the demand for water, energy, and food (WEF), WEF security is being threatened. To address this issue, the nexus approach, which explores interactions among different WEF sectors as an integrated system, can distinguish between different influencing indicators of WEF security. However, studies on the interactions between WEF sectors in South Korea are few, consequently challenging WEF security, and in the field of social science, WEF security nexus research using a quantitative approach is lacking. This study discusses the interactions composed of synergies and trade-offs between WEF sectors in South Korea through Spearman's rank correlation and network analyses using secondary data at the national level. The results show that the interaction between energy or energy-related sectors was highest; specifically, increasing the proportion of renewable energy utilization improved WEF security. In the water and food sectors, water infrastructure management and value-added management of agriculture showed the most interactions, respectively. The findings demonstrate that WEF security is an interconnected rather than an independent system, and WEF security improves efficiently when preferentially upgrading indicators with many interactions. The study provides important guidelines to prioritize policies to implement sustainable resource management systems.
... To assess the four sectors (food, energy, water, carbon) together, we designed a composite sustainability index based on the FEWC nexus with four dimensions and nine indicators build upon indices developed in recent studies (Fernández-Ríos et al., 2021;Nhamo et al., 2020;Simpson et al., 2020). Indicators were identified based on the following criteria: ...
While aquaculture is critical to global food and nutrition security, the fast development of aquaculture production systems has recently increased concerns about resource overexploitation and associated environmental impacts. Understanding how sustainable is current global aquaculture practice is important given its potential impacts on key sustainable development goals (SDGs). Here, for the first time, we developed a food-energy-water-carbon (FEWC) composite sustainability index (0–100) to assess the sustainability of global aquaculture across countries. Results indicate that the overall sustainability of global aquaculture is low (average score = 26) with none achieving a high sustainability score (75–100) and almost all practicing aquaculture in a relatively low sustainable way (0–50). Considering the sub-sustainability at a sector level, 80% of countries had at least two sectors among FEWC falling into the low sustainable zone (score less than 25). Regarding the environmental impacts, global aquaculture production accounted for approximately 1765.2 × 10³ TJ energy use, 122.6 km³ water consumption, and 261.3 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2018. China led all countries by contributing to more than half of global aquaculture water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, followed by India and Indonesia. This study highlights the significance of cross-sectoral management and policymaking to achieve global aquaculture sustainability.
... The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus Index is a web-based WEF nexus global visualization map comprising an index that is a composite indicator derived from integrating WEF resource sectors' indicators. Within each resource are equally weighted "access" and "availability" sub-pillars, as well as relevant indicators from a total of 21 (Simpson et al., 2020). ...
... "Hard-linked" GIS-enabled WEF nexus tools depict that common techniques for this integration arrangement include the use of WebGIS, base maps, geodatabases, and geoportals. The "hard-linked" integration allows for flexible web hosting of the tool, locating case study areas, real-time interaction, mapping, and visualizing spatial distributions of WEF nexus (Lin et al., 2019;Simpson et al., 2020;Arenas et al., 2021). Other benefits include storing, integrating, and sharing project GIS datasets (Melenhorst et al., 2018). ...
Sector-based resource management approaches partly contribute to the insecurities in water, energy and food sectors and resources. These approaches fail to acknowledge and capture the interlinkages between these connected resources, a key strength in the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus approach. However, the multi-centric, multidimensional, and spatiotemporally dynamic WEF nexus is complex and uncertain, thus requiring dedicated tools that can unpack it. Various sources have blamed the slow uptake and practical implementation of the WEF nexus on the unavailability of appropriate tools and models. To confirm those claims with evidence, literature on WEF nexus tools was searched from Scopus and Web of Science and systematically reviewed using the PRISMA protocol. It was found that the WEF nexus tools are being developed increasingly, with a current cumulative number of at least 46 tools and models. However, their majority (61%) is unreachable to the intended users. Some available tools are in code format, which can undermine their applicability by users without programming skills. A good majority (70%) lack key capabilities such as geospatial features and transferability in spatial scale and geographic scope. Only 30% of the tools are applicable at local scales. In contrast, some tools are restricted in geographic scope and scale of application, for example, ANEMI 3 and WEF models for large and household scales, respectively. Most (61%) of the tools lack wide application in actual case studies; this was partly attributed to the tools not being readily available. Thus, efforts should be made to disseminate and ensure end-users' uptake and application of developed tools. Alternatively, the user-friendly tools should be developed on-demand as requested and inspired by potential clients. Developers should consider utility, transferability and scalability across uses and users when improving existing tools and developing new tools so that they are adaptable, only requiring new, specific location-adapted inputs and data. Where and when it is necessary to capture spatial dynamics of the WEF nexus, tools should be geographic information system (GIS)-enabled for automatic WEF nexus location selection, geospatial mapping, and visualization. Such GIS-enabled WEF nexus tools can provide a bird's eye view of hotspots and champions of WEF nexus practices.
A spatially distributed water‐energy‐food (WEF) nexus model has been developed using the Pardee‐RAND WEF approach to analyse the WEF security of an area. The Pardee‐RAND equations have been modified to include the earlier neglected WEF indicators to tackle the WEF challenges holistically. The model is coded in Python and has an operating system‐independent graphical user interface (GUI). The model helps understand the WEF nexus by calculating water energy, food subindices and the WEF nexus index. We tested the model in the Kangsabati River Basin (distributed at the block level) and across India (states/union territory level). The result shows that the WEF nexus indices vary significantly over the country's small (block) to large (state) administrative units. The water energy and food subindices and WEF nexus index for the Kangsabati River Basin are 0.89, 0.73, 0.79 and 0.80, respectively, while for India, the corresponding values are 0.67, 0.53, 0.73 and 0.63, respectively. The blocks or states/union territories needing specific policy interventions are identified. The study will help influence policy and resource planning at different administrative levels to ensure better management of WEF resources holistically and equitably. Un modèle de lien entre eau‐énergie‐alimentation (WEF) spatialement réparti a été développé en utilisant l'approche WEF de Pardee‐Rand pour analyser la sécurité de WEF d'une zone. Les équations de Pardee‐Rand ont été modifiées pour inclure les indicateurs de WEF précédemment négligés afin de relever les défis de WEF de manière holistique. Le modèle est codé en Python et possède une interface graphique utilisateur (GUI) indépendante du système d'exploitation. Le modèle aide à comprendre le lien entre WEF en calculant les sous‐indices de l'eau, de l'énergie, de l'alimentation et l'indice de lien entre WEF. Nous avons testé le modèle dans le bassin de la rivière Kangsabati (distribué au niveau des blocs) et dans toute l'Inde (au niveau des Etats/territoires de l'Union). Le résultat montre que les indices de lien entre WEF varient significativement entre les petites (blocs) et les grandes unités administratives (Etats) du pays. Les sous‐indices de l'eau, de l'énergie, de l'alimentation et l'indice de lien entre WEF du bassin de la rivière Kangsabati sont respectivement de 0,89, 0,73, 0,79 et 0,80, tandis que pour l'Inde, les valeurs correspondantes sont respectivement de 0,67, 0,53, 0,73 et 0,63. Les blocs ou les États/territoires de l'Union nécessitant des interventions politiques spécifiques sont identifiés. L'étude contribuera à influencer la politique et la planification des ressources à différents niveaux administratifs afin d'assurer une meilleure gestion des ressources de WEF de manière holistique et équitable.
