The Land-Water-Energy Nexus
Biophysical and Economic Consequences
This report contributes to the discussion of interconnections between scarce resources by highlighting the nexus between land, water and energy (the LWE nexus). It focuses on a dynamic, integrated, and disaggregated analysis of how land, water and energy interact in the biophysical and economic systems. The report provides projections for the biophysical and economic consequences of nexus bottlenecks until 2060, highlighting that while the LWE nexus is essentially local, there can be significant large-scale repercussions in vulnerable regions, notably on forest cover and in terms of food and water security.
The analysis is based on coupling a gridded biophysical systems model with a multi-regional, multi-sectoral dynamic general equilibrium modelling assessment. Numerical insights are provided by investigating a carefully selected set of scenarios that are designed to illustrate the key bottlenecks: one scenario for each resource bottleneck, plus two scenarios that combine all bottlenecks, with and without an overlay of climate change.
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A framework for assessing the land-water-energy nexus
This chapter presents the methodology used in this report to calculate the biophysical and economic consequences of the nexus bottlenecks. This methodology is based on soft-linking the IMAGE model with its detailed, grid-level projections of the global biophysical system with the ENV-Linkages model, which describes the sectoral and regional economic system. The chapter describes how both models are linked. The chapter ends with a description of the scenarios used in the modelling analysis in subsequent chapters.
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