A few months ago, I presented the findings of a new book, The Water-Food-Energy Nexus: Power, Politics and Justice, to an International Water Association conference on the same topic at Salerno. To my great surprise, I was the only social scientist out of 200 participants. Nexus approaches help to bridge the separate domains of water,…
Rediscovering the Water-Food-Energy Nexus
Water rationing in Taiwan and California is not the start of a ‘global water crisis’
Political leaders and international experts are discussing the future of water resources management at the 7th World Water Forum in Korea, a forum that meets every three years to raise public awareness about water issues. But public awareness about water issues may already be at its high since Taiwan and California have put in place…
Business for peace?
It is difficult to avoid being swept up in the current tide of optimism about Africa and resource development. For once, Africa is not only portrayed by outsiders as a continent of poor people suffering and fighting over civil wars and dependent on good will and aid. At the same time, the new, positive single…
Why are informal water services overlooked in post-conflict state building?
by Jeremy Allouche & Maria Cooper Resource politics is coming back to the forefront of academic and policy debates around peacebuilding. Environmental peace and state building agendas are dominated by questions concerning informality and hybridity in resources. What kind of role do service providers play in peacebuilding and state building and what can we learn…
World Water Day: Time to consider a low water economy
The theme of this year’s World Water Day on 22 March is ‘water and energy’ – giving a chance to reflect on how these two vital resources are linked. In the water sector, the food-energy-water nexus is slowly replacing the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management. The idea of the nexus essentially gained momentum in the…