Mainstreaming the Water-Energy-Food Nexus through nationally determined contributions (NDCs): the case of Brazil

Paim, M-A.; Salas, P.; Lindner, S.; Pollitt, H.; Mercure, J-F.; Edwards, N. R. and Viñuales, J. E. (2019). Mainstreaming the Water-Energy-Food Nexus through nationally determined contributions (NDCs): the case of Brazil. Climate Policy, 20(2) pp. 163–178.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2019.1696736

Abstract

The Water-Energy-Food Nexus approach to the governance of natural resources seeks to identify and address the synergies and trade-offs amongst traditionally separated sectors, to capture significant feedbacks that have so far remained insufficiently understood and regulated. One key specificity of the Nexus approach is the need for intersectoral, cross-scale and stakeholder integration, which is particularly challenging due to the lack of policy coordination prevailing in many countries. Yet, some emerging integrated policy processes, such as those aimed at implementing nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the 2015 Paris Agreement, may offer a sufficient level of integration to mainstream the Nexus approach. This article focuses on the potential of such NDC processes in Brazil. NDC processes in China, the European Union, India and Mexico are used as indicators associated with higher or lower degrees of integration for a more specific analysis of the case of Brazil. The article concludes that the barriers to sectoral integration raised by the dominant position of the agricultural sector in Brazil as regards, among other things, environmental legislation, are unlikely to be overcome by internal action. This represents a threat to achieving the target of zero deforestation in Brazil, considering the cropland-livestock forestry feedbacks involved in the growing demand for agricultural commodities from China. NDCs already provide space for international cooperation, which could be further developed to include measures for linking demand for agricultural commodities from the EU and China, and massive land-use change and deforestation in Brazil.

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About

• Item ORO ID
• 68242
• Item Type
• Journal Item
• ISSN
• 1469-3062
• Project Funding Details

• Funded Project Name	Project ID	Funding Body
  BRIDGE	ES/N013174/1	Newton Fund via ESRC
  Plausible policy pathways to Paris	NE/P015093/1	NERC (Natural Environment Research Council)

• Keywords
• Water-Food-Energy Nexus; sectoral integration; Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC); Paris Agreement
• Academic Unit or School
• Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) > Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences
  Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
• Copyright Holders
• © 2019 Maria-Augusta Paim, © 2019 Pablo Salas, © 2019 Sören Lindner, © 2019 Hector Pollitt, © 2019 Jean-Francois Mercure, © 2019 Neil R. Edwards, © 2019 Jorge E. Viñuales
• Related URLs
• • https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.46164(Publication)
• Depositing User
• Neil Edwards