The EU and the international community are realising that water, energy, food and ecosystems are interlinked and require a joint planning in order to meet the daunting global challenges related to water, energy and food security, and maintaining ecosystems' health and, in this way, reaching the SDGs. If not dealt with, the world will not be able to meet the demand for water, energy and food in a not too far future and, in any case, in a not sustainable way. The strain on the ecosystems resulting from unsustainable single-sector planning will lead to increasing poverty, inequality and instability.
The Nexus approach is fully aligned with and supportive of the EU Consensus on Development. Key elements of the Consensus will require collaborative efforts across sectors in ways that can be supported/implemented by a Nexus approach. In this way, transparent and accountable decision-making, involving civil society, is key and common to the European Consensus on Development and the Nexus approach. The Nexus approach will support the implementation of the SDGs, in particular SDG 2 (food), SDG 6 (water) and SDG 7 (energy), but most SDGs have elements that link to food, water and energy in one or another way, and will benefit from a Nexus approach. The SDGs are designed to be cross-cutting and be implemented together, which is also reflected in a WEFE Nexus approach.
A Nexus approach offers a sustainable way of addressing the effects of climate change and increasing resilience. The WEFE Nexus considers the main drivers of climate change (water, energy and food security) and the main affected sectors (water and the environment). It is difficult to imagine solutions to the climate change issue that are not built on a form of Nexus approach. The Nexus approach is being implemented around the world, as examples in literature demonstrate. These examples, together with more examples from EU and member state development cooperation, will help build experience that can be consolidated and become an important contribution to a toolkit for WEFE Nexus implementation.
From the expert discussions, it appears that because of the novelty of the approach, a toolkit will be an important element in getting the Nexus approach widely used. This should build on experiences from practical examples of NEXUS projects or similar inter-sectoral collaboration projects. There are already policy, regulation and practical experiences to allow institutions and countries to start applying the Nexus concept.