Concept
The Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus represents a comprehensive framework that acknowledges the intricate interdependencies among water, energy, food security, and ecosystem health. This approach underscores that actions within one sector invariably influence the others, requiring integrated management strategies to ensure sustainable resource utilization.
Traditionally, resource management has operated within isolated sectors, often leading to inefficiencies and unintended consequences across interconnected systems. The WEFE Nexus approach seeks to overcome these silos by promoting coordinated policies and practices that recognize and leverage the synergies among these critical sectors. For instance, water is essential for both agricultural production and energy generation; energy is required for water extraction, treatment, and distribution; and ecosystems play a vital role in maintaining water quality and availability. By adopting a nexus perspective, policymakers and stakeholders can identify and implement solutions that maximize benefits across these domains, thereby enhancing resource security and sustainability.
Implementing the WEFE Nexus approach is pivotal for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as it fosters resource use efficiency, reduces trade-offs, and strengthens synergies across sectors. This holistic methodology not only supports environmental sustainability but also contributes to economic growth and social well-being by ensuring that the exploitation of one resource does not compromise the availability or quality of others. In essence, the WEFE Nexus provides a strategic pathway to balance human needs with environmental preservation, facilitating resilient and sustainable development.
Over the years, FutureWater has increasingly adopted a nexus-based approach in assessing and developing sustainable natural resource management strategies. From assessing water availability for hydropower generation to determining the status of food security under different climate change scenarios, FutureWater continues to account for the interdependencies within and across the four WEFE domains.
FutureWater Applications
As the quantitative assessment of the WEFE Nexus remains largely underexplored, and existing approaches often require substantial resources or focus too narrowly on a single aspect, FutureWater has developed a new tool, REWEFe (Rapid Evaluation of the Water, Energy, Food, and Ecosystem Nexus). This tool enables the quantitative assessment of the WEFE Nexus under different scenarios, providing a standardized methodology that can be applied across diverse global contexts. By making this approach more accessible, FutureWater aims to equip a wide range of stakeholders with the means to better evaluate and manage the interconnected challenges of water, energy, food, and ecosystems.
Our In-House Tools & Services
REWEFe: Rapid Evaluation of the Water-Energy-Food-ecosystem Nexus
REWEFe is a user-friendly, Excel-based tool that enables stakeholders to assess the interconnections between these critical sectors. By providing scenario analysis, decision support, and clear visual outputs, REWEFe helps users identify synergies and trade-offs, making it an accessible and effective tool for sustainable resource management worldwide.
Related projects
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Assessment of the Water-Energy-Food-ecosystem Nexus in Selected River Basins in Southeast Asia
FutureWater is tailoring the REWEFe toolkit to support assessment of the WEFE Nexus by quantifying a set of indicators relevant to the key issues in seven selected river basins in Southeast Asia. This is part of a broader baseline assessment of competing uses and users of water in the current...
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Water Accounting Engine to support decision-making in WEFE Nexus
Effective decision-making in water resource management is often impeded by the fragmented use of diverse approaches among different sectors (water, energy, food and environment). This fragmentation leads to inconsistent data, inefficiencies, conflicting results and challenges in integrated planning. To overcome this, FAO Regional Offices for Near East and North Afri+ca...
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WE-ACT: Water Efficient Allocation in a Central Asian Transboundary River Basin
The WE-ACT project’s overall goal is to demonstrate a Decision Support System (DSS) for water allocation in a Central Asian transboundary river to increase shared benefits and foster the adaptation of water resources management and planning to climate change.
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BONEX: Boosting Nexus Framework Implementation in the Mediterranean
BONEX is a project funded by the PRIMA-EU Foundation specifically for the Mediterranean Region. This region faces several challenges to ensure future food and water security, whilst preserving ecosystems. BONEX explores and develops specific solutions promoting the linking of governance with practice to overcome barriers to WEFE (water, energy, food,...
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Water-Food-Energy Nexus: Towards a widening of the water agenda
If the world is going to reduce hunger and eradicate poverty in a sustainable way we have to achieve security for water, food and energy simultaneously. The Danish Ministry of Environment – Nature Agency was aware of this and was therefore studying the water-food-energy nexus. To support the Danish Ministry...
