The water-energy-food nexus: outlook on opportunities and challenges

The water-energy-food nexus has risen to prominence in research and practice in the past decade. The nexus has been employed as an assessment tool, a conceptual approach and framework for policymaking. Research has examined its conceptual underpinnings as an integrative framework and its implementation with respect to methodological approaches and application in a variety of case study contexts, while some universities have employed the nexus as a collaborative programming guide. In practice, international organizations have featured a water-energy-food nexus approach in policy guidance and as a framework for sustainable development projects. In this chapter, we examine the status and evolution of nexus governance in relation to water governance. In doing so, we review how the water-energy-food nexus arose and evolved in policy and practice in relation to other integrative frameworks such as integrated water resources management. We explore the extension of nexus thinking to current and emerging areas of practice, including global consensus around sustainable development as enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals, international cooperation and new modes of science-policy networking. We synthesize principles of nexus governance from recent literature and extract lessons learned from examples of nexus governance in practice. We conclude with our view of the outstanding challenges and gaps in nexus governance research and ideas for future directions for practice and policy.