The water\uffe2\uff80\uff90energy\uffe2\uff80\uff90food (WEF) nexus is a prominent approach for addressing today's sustainable development challenges. In our critical appraisal of the WEF, covering different approaches, drivers, enablers, and applications, we emphasize the situation across the Global South (Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean). Here, WEF research covers at least 23 focal domains. We find that the nexus is still a maturing paradigm primarily rooted in a physical and natural sciences framing, which is itself embedded in a neoliberal securities narrative. While providing insights and tools to address the systemic interdependencies between resource sectors whose exploitation, degradation, and sub\uffe2\uff80\uff90optimal management contribute to (un)sustainable development, there is still insufficient engagement with social, political, and economic dimensions. Progress related to climate, urbanization, and resource consumption is encouraging, but while governance and finance are central enablers of current and future nexus systems, gaps remain in relation to implementation and operationalization. Harnessing the nexus for sustainable development across the Global South means recognizing that it is more than a biophysical system, but also a multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90scale complex of people, institutions, and infrastructure, affected by history and context. Addressing this complexity requires alternative and possibly challenging perspectives to counter dominant narratives, and manage problems associated with policy integration, trade\uffe2\uff80\uff90offs, and winners and losers. We outline 10 emergent research areas that we think can contribute to this endeavor and enable the nexus to be a stronger policy force.Over the last decade, Europe has experienced a sharp increase in infrastructure expenditure due to the severe and frequent natural phenomena related to climate change. Local consequences, such as habitat destruction, finite freshwater availability and food scarcity exert significant pressure on the available ecological space. Therefore, there is a growing interest in assessing risks and vulnerabilities to climate change, which has already led to a wide range of impacts on environmental systems and society, including destabilising security. Increased environmental, social, and financial damage costs are expected in the future. Many of these imminent or ongoing challenges are related to the overexploitation of resources and the energy transition, requiring a more holistic approach to encouraging new technologies, that involves a whole-of-society approach and stakeholder participation. State-of-the-art CCUS and hydrogen energy technologies, offer sustainable solutions to mitigate the current situation, allowing a reduction in carbon emissions, a transition towards a low-carbon economy, and an increased overall resilience of the international community to climate change.
", "keywords": ["sdgs", "ccus", "0211 other engineering and technologies", "02 engineering and technology", "7. Clean energy", "01 natural sciences", "stakeholders", "12. Responsible consumption", "ccs", "11. Sustainability", "Cambio clim\u00e1tico", "resilience", "SDGs", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "QE1-996.5", "Geology", "15. Life on land", "sustainability", "6. Clean water", "CCS", "climate change", "13. Climate action", "hydrogen", "CCUS", "raw materials", "Almacenamiento C02", "water food energy nexus"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/t5c8z"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.31219/osf.io/t5c8z", "name": "item", "description": "10.31219/osf.io/t5c8z", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.31219/osf.io/t5c8z"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-04-25T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5281/zenodo.8108324", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-25T16:23:37Z", "type": "Report", "created": "2023-04-26", "title": "Climate change challenges and state fragility in the water, energy, food/land, raw material nexus and the position of hydrogen and Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage for increasing resilience", "description": "Over the last decade, Europe has experienced a sharp increase in infrastructure expenditure due to the severe and frequent natural phenomena related to climate change. Local consequences, such as habitat destruction, finite freshwater availability and food scarcity exert significant pressure on the available ecological space. Therefore, there is a growing interest in assessing risks and vulnerabilities to climate change, which has already led to a wide range of impacts on environmental systems and society, including destabilising security. Increased environmental, social, and financial damage costs are expected in the future. Many of these imminent or ongoing challenges are related to the overexploitation of resources and the energy transition, requiring a more holistic approach to encouraging new technologies, that involves a whole-of-society approach and stakeholder participation. State-of-the-art CCUS and hydrogen energy technologies, offer sustainable solutions to mitigate the current situation, allowing a reduction in carbon emissions, a transition towards a low-carbon economy, and an increased overall resilience of the international community to climate change.
", "keywords": ["sdgs", "QE1-996.5", "ccus", "0211 other engineering and technologies", "Geology", "02 engineering and technology", "15. Life on land", "sustainability", "7. Clean energy", "01 natural sciences", "6. Clean water", "CCS", "stakeholders", "12. Responsible consumption", "ccs", "climate change", "13. Climate action", "hydrogen", "11. Sustainability", "CCUS", "raw materials", "water food energy nexus", "resilience", "SDGs", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8108324"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5281/zenodo.8108324", "name": "item", "description": "10.5281/zenodo.8108324", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5281/zenodo.8108324"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-04-25T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10023/26640", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-25T16:24:22Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-11-29", "title": "Appraising the Water\u2010Energy\u2010Food Nexus From a Sustainable Development Perspective: A Maturing Paradigm?", "description": "AbstractThe water\uffe2\uff80\uff90energy\uffe2\uff80\uff90food (WEF) nexus is a prominent approach for addressing today's sustainable development challenges. In our critical appraisal of the WEF, covering different approaches, drivers, enablers, and applications, we emphasize the situation across the Global South (Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean). Here, WEF research covers at least 23 focal domains. We find that the nexus is still a maturing paradigm primarily rooted in a physical and natural sciences framing, which is itself embedded in a neoliberal securities narrative. While providing insights and tools to address the systemic interdependencies between resource sectors whose exploitation, degradation, and sub\uffe2\uff80\uff90optimal management contribute to (un)sustainable development, there is still insufficient engagement with social, political, and economic dimensions. Progress related to climate, urbanization, and resource consumption is encouraging, but while governance and finance are central enablers of current and future nexus systems, gaps remain in relation to implementation and operationalization. Harnessing the nexus for sustainable development across the Global South means recognizing that it is more than a biophysical system, but also a multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90scale complex of people, institutions, and infrastructure, affected by history and context. Addressing this complexity requires alternative and possibly challenging perspectives to counter dominant narratives, and manage problems associated with policy integration, trade\uffe2\uff80\uff90offs, and winners and losers. We outline 10 emergent research areas that we think can contribute to this endeavor and enable the nexus to be a stronger policy force.Over the last decade, Europe has experienced a sharp increase in infrastructure expenditure due to the severe and frequent natural phenomena related to climate change. Local consequences, such as habitat destruction, finite freshwater availability and food scarcity exert significant pressure on the available ecological space. Therefore, there is a growing interest in assessing risks and vulnerabilities to climate change, which has already led to a wide range of impacts on environmental systems and society, including destabilising security. Increased environmental, social, and financial damage costs are expected in the future. Many of these imminent or ongoing challenges are related to the overexploitation of resources and the energy transition, requiring a more holistic approach to encouraging new technologies, that involves a whole-of-society approach and stakeholder participation. State-of-the-art CCUS and hydrogen energy technologies, offer sustainable solutions to mitigate the current situation, allowing a reduction in carbon emissions, a transition towards a low-carbon economy, and an increased overall resilience of the international community to climate change.
", "keywords": ["sdgs", "ccus", "0211 other engineering and technologies", "02 engineering and technology", "7. Clean energy", "01 natural sciences", "stakeholders", "12. Responsible consumption", "ccs", "11. Sustainability", "Cambio clim\u00e1tico", "resilience", "SDGs", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "QE1-996.5", "Geology", "15. Life on land", "sustainability", "6. Clean water", "CCS", "climate change", "13. Climate action", "hydrogen", "CCUS", "raw materials", "Almacenamiento C02", "water food energy nexus"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10261/354697"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10261/354697", "name": "item", "description": "10261/354697", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10261/354697"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-04-25T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10261/406605", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-25T16:24:36Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2025-10-20", "title": "Stakeholders' Perspectives on the Current State and Transition to Sustainable Soil Management Across Europe", "description": "ABSTRACTImplementing sustainable soil management practices to enhance soil health is a priority in research and policymaking across Europe. There is a need to identify the main soil challenges faced by different European stakeholders and the critical threats limiting the adoption of sustainable management of agricultural soils. The present study analyses stakeholders' perspectives on key soil challenges, knowledge gaps, and priorities for agricultural soil research across partner countries that participated in the European Joint Programme on Soil (EJP SOIL) 2020\uffe2\uff80\uff932025. Two complementary stakeholder activities\uffe2\uff80\uff94a survey and a workshop\uffe2\uff80\uff94were conducted across 24 partner countries (divided into four regions: Central, Northern, Southern, and Western Europe) of the EJP SOIL consortium in 2024. Among 10 pre\uffe2\uff80\uff90identified soil challenges, the findings highlight that maintaining or increasing soil organic carbon, avoiding soil sealing, and avoiding soil erosion are the top three priorities across Europe. However, the perceived prioritisation of soil challenges differed both between and within regions, reflecting each country's specific soil health context. Divergences in perceptions between practitioners and other stakeholder groups underscore the need to develop actions aimed at better understanding the rationale behind such discrepancies and how to overcome them. In addition, other key challenges for achieving sustainable soil management across Europe include limited funding, policy incoherencies, poor knowledge dissemination and co\uffe2\uff80\uff90creation, and insufficient soil monitoring. Environmental factors influencing soil health, including climate change, together with governance and economic models, were perceived to be critical limitations to the adoption of sustainable management of agricultural soils. This study also emphasises the need for a diversity of engagement methods, policies, and system approaches to support a transition towards sustainable soil management. These findings underscore the need for future research agendas that focus on integrated knowledge and participatory approaches, and strategies involving societal awareness and policy alignment\uffe2\uff80\uff94key elements that have also informed broader strategies involving societal awareness and engagement towards sustainable soil management in Europe.Climate change threatens biodiversity, water, food and human health and well\uffe2\uff80\uff90being. Rapid, sustained mitigation and adaptation actions can benefit all these elements of the nexus. Key transitions in energy, land and marine ecosystems, urban areas, industry and society are essential for climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainable development. These transitions require interdisciplinary research, policy support and societal engagement. Here we present an assessment of 69 response options, a subset of which (15) was used in the climate change chapter of the IPBES Nexus Assessment. We show that the majority of climate change response options for land, oceans and ecosystems, settlement and infrastructure, industrial and societal system transitions have broadly positive impacts across the nexus. However, energy system transitions show more apparent trade\uffe2\uff80\uff90offs. Most of these impacts result from energy infrastructure that would also be required for fossil fuel\uffe2\uff80\uff90based systems and should be compared to the far more damaging consequences of continued fossil fuel use. Transitioning to cleaner, renewable energy sources reduces these risks and offers significant improvements across the nexus by reducing climate change impacts. Of the 69 response options assessed, 59% have entirely positive effects, or at least no negative effects, across all nexus elements and can be considered as low\uffe2\uff80\uff90risk, immediately actionable options. The remaining 41% show either negative or variable impacts on at least one nexus element. However, this does not render them unviable; rather, their implementation must be carefully managed. Where impacts are variable, strategies should be tailored to ensure positive outcomes; where trade\uffe2\uff80\uff90offs are unavoidable, efforts should focus on minimising negative effects and maximising synergies. Our findings suggest that prioritising policies that address the interconnected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, pollution, food insecurity, access to clean water, energy for all and sustainable development will deliver more effective and equitable climate action.