Closing the governance gaps in the water-energy-food nexus: Insights from integrative governance
01 Jul 2017-Global Environmental Change-human and Policy Dimensions (Elsevier Ltd)-Vol. 45, pp 165-173
TL;DR: The water-energy-food nexus has become a popular concept in environmental change research and policy debates as discussed by the authors, and it has been suggested that a nexus approach promotes policy coherence through identifying...
Abstract: The water-energy-food nexus has become a popular concept in environmental change research and policy debates. Proponents suggest that a nexus approach promotes policy coherence through identifying ...
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TL;DR: A state-of-the-art review on the concepts, research questions and methodologies in the field of water-energy-food, and future research challenges are identified, including system boundary, data uncertainty and modelling, underlying mechanism of nexus issues and system performance evaluation.
303 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review of water-energy nexus analysis is presented, which provides a depository summary of a wide range of current existing methods and tools for water energy nexus analysis, and discusses these approaches based on their main purposes.
262 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the relevance of existing and ongoing scholarship within the water community, as well as current research needs, for understanding FEW processes and systems and implementing FEW solutions through innovations in technologies, infrastructures, and policies is explored.
210 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a comprehensive literature review to debate the current concepts and methods of the food, energy, and water (FEW) nexus at different scales, with the aim of developing a conceptual knowledgebase framework for scientific analysis and policy making associated with the urban FEW nexus.
Abstract: The emerging popularity of the nexus discussion reflects the ongoing transition from a sectoral or silo approach to an integrative approach to address the global challenges pertinent to the three essential resources: food, energy, and water (FEW). Cities are critically important for advancing regional sustainable development and are thus placed at the center of the FEW nexus. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review to debate the current concepts and methods of the FEW nexus at different scales, with the aim of developing a conceptual knowledgebase framework for scientific analysis and policy making associated with the urban FEW nexus. Although the concept of nexus thinking has been widely accepted, a consistent and explicit cognition of the FEW nexus is still lacking, and a sophisticated methodological modeling framework is urgently required at various scales. As such, we proposed a three-dimensional conceptual framework of the urban FEW nexus from the perspective of resource interdependency, resource provision and system integration. This framework is useful in steering the systematic modeling and integrative management of the complex nexus issues of urban systems with different perspectives. Finally, the future directions of urban nexus research are identified from four aspects, including systematic characterization, cross-region tele-connection mechanisms, co-decision model development, and governance transition.
188 citations
TL;DR: The Energy-Water-Food Nexus is one of the most complex sustainability challenges faced by the world as discussed by the authors, and insufficiently understood interactions within the Nexus are contributing to large-scale deforestation and land-use change, water and energy scarcity, and increased vulnerability to climate change.
Abstract: The Energy-Water-Food Nexus is one of the most complex sustainability challenges faced by the world. This is particularly true in Brazil, where insufficiently understood interactions within the Nexus are contributing to large-scale deforestation and land-use change, water and energy scarcity, and increased vulnerability to climate change. The reason is a combination of global environmental change and global economic change, putting unprecedented pressures on the Brazilian environment and ecosystems. In this paper, we identify and discuss the main Nexus challenges faced by Brazil across sectors (e.g. energy, agriculture, water) and scales (e.g. federal, state, municipal). We use four case studies to explore all nodes of the Nexus. For each, we analyse data from economic and biophysical modelling sources in combination with an overview of the legislative and policy landscape, in order to identify governance shortcomings in the context of growing challenges. We analyse the complex interdependence of developments at the global and local (Brazilian) levels, highlighting the impact of global environmental and economic change on Brazil and, conversely, that of developments in Brazil for other countries and the world. We conclude that there is a need to adjust the scientific approach to these challenges as an enabling condition for stronger science-policy bridges for sustainability policy-making.
102 citations
References
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01 May 2002TL;DR: In this article, Oran Young takes the analytic themes identified in the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (IDGEC) Science Plan as cutting-edge research concerns and develops them into a common structure for conducting research.
Abstract: Researchers studying the role institutions play in causing and confronting environmental change use a variety of concepts and methods that make it difficult to compare their findings. Seeking to remedy this problem, Oran Young takes the analytic themes identified in the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (IDGEC) Science Plan as cutting-edge research concerns and develops them into a common structure for conducting research. He illustrates his arguments with examples of environmental change ranging in scale from the depletion of local fish stocks to the disruption of Earth's climate system.Young not only explores theoretical concerns such as the relative merits of collective-action and social-practice models of institutions but also addresses the IDGEC-identified problems of institutional fit, interplay, and scale. He shows how institutions interact both with one another and with the biophysical environment and assesses the extent to which we can apply lessons drawn from the study of local institutions to the study of global institutions and vice versa. He examines how research on institutions can help us to solve global problems of environmental governance. Substantive topics discussed include the institutional dimensions of carbon management, the performance of exclusive economic zones, and the political economy of boreal and tropical forests.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an approach to formulate and evaluate the potential of environmental regulations in the context of agriculture and chemical industry, focusing on the role of public interest groups and third parties.
Abstract: PART 1: PRACTICE AND POTENTIAL IN ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION 1. Introduction:- Regulation, deregulation and beyond Building on what we've got Towards a successful policy mix The structure of this book How we approached our task: assumptions, evaluation criteria and methodology 2. Instruments for Environmental Protection:- Introduction Varieties of Regulatory Instruments 3. Parties, Roles and Interactions:- Third parties: public interest groups Third parties: commercial Governing at a distance Instrument and institutional interactions Conclusion PART 2: REDESIGNING REGULATION: A SECTOR SPECIFIC ANALYSIS 4. The Chemical Industry:- Introduction The chemical industry and its environmental impact The regulatory environment and its shortcomings Redesigning regulation: towards efficient and effective policy instruments Towards a broader policy mix Broader lessons Conclusion 5. The Agriculture Industry:- The agriculture industry and its environmental impact Characteristics of the agriculture industry The regulatory environment and its shortcomings Assessing instrument options: towards efficient and effective agricultural policy Institutional influences: the role of third parties Design considerations Conclusions 6. Designing Integrative Environmental Policy:- Introduction Regulatory design processes Regulatory design principles Instrument Mixes Conclusion Index
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on one aspect that is turning into a major source of concern for scholars and policy-makers alike: the "fragmentation" of governance architectures in important policy domains.
Abstract: Most research on global governance has focused either on theoretical accounts of the overall phenomenon or on empirical studies of distinct institutions that serve to solve particular governance challenges. In this article we analyze instead “governance architectures,” defined as the overarching system of public and private institutions, principles, norms, regulations, decision-making procedures and organizations that are valid or active in a given issue area of world politics. We focus on one aspect that is turning into a major source of concern for scholars and policy-makers alike: the “fragmentation” of governance architectures in important policy domains. The article offers a typology of different degrees of fragmentation, which we describe as synergistic, cooperative, and conflictive fragmentation. We then systematically assess alternative hypotheses over the relative advantages and disadvantages of different degrees of fragmentation. We argue that moderate degrees of fragmentation may entail both significant costs and benefits, while higher degrees of fragmentation are likely to decrease the overall performance of a governance architecture. The article concludes with policy options on how high degrees of fragmentation could be reduced. Fragmentation is prevalent in particular in the current governance of climate change, which we have hence chosen as illustration for our discussion.
815 citations
TL;DR: Raustiala et al. as discussed by the authors examined the implications of the rising density of international institutions and argued that an increasingly common phenomenon is the "regime complex": a collective of partially overlapping and non-hierarchical regimes.
Abstract: This article examines the implications of the rising density of international institutions. Despite the rapid proliferation of institutions, scholars continue to embrace the assumption that individual regimes are decomposable from others. We contend that an increasingly common phenomenon is the “regime complex:” a collective of partially overlapping and nonhierarchical regimes. The evolution of regime complexes reflects the influence of legalization on world politics. Regime complexes are laden with legal inconsistencies because the rules in one regime are rarely coordinated closely with overlapping rules in related regimes. Negotiators often attempt to avoid glaring inconsistencies by adopting broad rules that allow for multiple interpretations. In turn, solutions refined through implementation of these rules focus later rounds of negotiation and legalization. We explore these processes using the issue of plant genetic resources (PGR). Over the last century, states have created property rights in these resources in a Demsetzian process: as new technologies and ideas have made PGR far more valuable, actors have mobilized and clashed over the creation of property rights that allow the appropriation of that value.We are grateful for comments on early drafts presented at Stanford Law School, New York University Law School, Duke Law School, Harvard Law School, and the American Society for International Law. Thanks especially to Larry Helfer, Tom Heller, Robert Keohane, Benedict Kingsbury, Peter Lallas, Lisa Martin, Ron Mitchell, Sabrina Safrin, Gene Skolnikoff, Richard Stewart, Chris Stone, Buzz Thompson, Jonathan Wiener, Katrina Wyman, Oran Young, and two anonymous reviewers for their feedback. Kal Raustiala thanks the Program on Law and Public Affairs at Princeton for support. We also thank our research assistants, Lindsay Carlson, Lesley Coben and Joshua House.
737 citations
736 citations