Policy and Governance in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

A Relational Equity Approach

Anastasia Koulouri, Nikolai Mouraviev, Anastasia Koulouri, Nikolai Mouraviev

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429764806
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Environment & Energy Policy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book discusses the balance of priorities within the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus and its impact on policy development and implementation, highlighting innovative perspectives in adopting a holistic approach to identify, analyse and manage the nexus component interdependencies.

Due to increasing demands for natural resources, the WEF nexus has emerged as a response to the numerous global challenges. Addressing WEF challenges often involves balancing multiple and competing priorities and identifying and managing interrelations, synergies and trade-offs between the three components of the nexus. In this volume the authors focus on the dynamics between multiple stakeholders, such as governments, businesses, NGOs and local communities, when addressing WEF challenges by adopting a nexus approach. The book argues that effective engagement of multiple stakeholders can address difficulties arising from the introduction of an integrated approach to WEF policy design and implementation, increasing the potential benefits. The book also looks at the effect of international relations and regional power struggles on resolving cross-border WEF nexus issues. Case studies are drawn from Kenya, Central Asia, USA and Peru, highlighting key themes, such as how collaborative governance, enabled and facilitated by relational equity management, can be viewed as an innovative way to reconcile competing priorities.

The combination of theoretical and case study chapters makes the book of interest to a wide audience, including scholars and advanced students of sustainable development, agriculture and food studies, water and energy policy design and governance, as well as to practitioners working in the fields of water, energy and food security.

1 Introduction

The water-energy-food nexus through the lens of relational equity management

Anastasia Koulouri and Nikolai Mouraviev

Over the past ten years, the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus has emerged as a response to numerous challenges. The rapidly increasing demand for natural resources stems from exponential population growth and is exacerbated by urbanisation with the associated resource intensive lifestyles, concentrated consumption, and ever-expanding middle-classes characterised by avid consumerism. Further, globalisation – despite its positive impact on the world’s economic development by enhancing economic links, creating employment opportunities and bringing resources to regions which experience scarcity – has also exposed countries to market volatility. This development has been inequitable, leaving a large portion of the world population without adequate access to food, clean water and/or modern energy sources. In addition, climate change operates as a threat multiplier, exacerbating the already significant burden on natural resources and deepening the vulnerability of human and ecological systems.

The WEF nexus could support the transition to sustainable development by providing a framework for a holistic approach to (1) the intersectorality of resource management; (2) the interdependencies and interdisciplinarity of resource management decisions; and (3) the interactionality of resource management decisions and their impacts (Al-Saidi and Elagib, 2017). Such integration across sectors, institutions and scales entails increased tensions between the stakeholders and actors involved compounded by institutional inertia, path dependence and a natural tendency to sectoral and/or linear thinking (Hoff, 2011). This necessitates an improved conceptualisation of governance frameworks that would permit the effective application of the WEF nexus in framing and addressing resource management problems. In achieving this, relational equity management may be a suitable perspective to adopt.

The book aims to discuss balancing priorities within the WEF nexus and its impact on policy development and implementation through the lens of relational equity management (Sawhney and Zabin, 2002). It highlights innovative perspectives in adopting a holistic approach to identify, analyse and manage the nexus component interdependencies. Looking beyond interdisciplinarity, to intersectorality and interactivity of policies and the impact of their implementation, the WEF nexus should be viewed as an approach that offers a tool for balancing trade-offs, enhancing synergies and promoting effective resource management. The book features creative solutions aiming to harmonise the multiple and (often) competing priorities of the WEF sectors through enhancing the relational equity of all stakeholders/agents. It further discusses how nexus thinking materialises in policy and governance in the three sectors – water, energy and food – within different contexts. Developing and implementing policies within sectoral silos and/or without the engagement of local communities typically faces a multiplicity of barriers that drastically reduce the efficacy of resource management. In these sectoral policies, externalities are often unacknowledged and/or inappropriately handled.

The book’s thematic focus is relational equity management as part of the governance framework applied to the WEF nexus. Relational equity management refers to the government’s efforts to identify the relationships of all actors within the nexus, and manage those that it considers critical. Specifically, relational equity is the value that a stakeholder derives from interacting with a group of other stakeholders, rather than from individual, one-to-one interaction with each actor, pursuing the goal of solving a common (e.g. regional or national) problem, and the value that a stakeholder contributes to nexus problem-solving. These relationships include those between government organisations, as well as those between the government, businesses, NGOs, interest groups and the community. Is the onus of managing these relationships and the responsibility for doing so productively solely a government duty? Can nexus governance be more effectual if each stakeholder and actor accepts part of this duty? Through the legal and regulatory frameworks the government defines the boundaries within which these relationships operate. However, other stakeholders/agents should be invited to contribute and actively participate in developing these frameworks.

The book pays special attention to under-researched topics that form its main themes including:

• The dynamics between policy makers, sectoral experts and researchers when undertaking a WEF nexus analysis to address specific problems and the impact of those dynamics on policy and governance decision-making;
• The role of business elites in framing and addressing WEF nexus challenges;
• The impact of politics, political systems and power holders on designing and implementing suitable policies to address WEF nexus problems;
• The influence of corruption on prioritising WEF nexus problems and formulating solutions;
• The effect of international relations and regional power struggles on resolving cross-border WEF nexus issues.

This is a non-technical book. Rather, it looks at the WEF nexus through the lens of policy and governance. Although affordable and cutting-edge technological solutions are essential for underpinning the efficient management of resources, often the focus on technology does not lead to suitable policy solutions. The development of fitting technological and engineering solutions, on its own, is insufficient, as each policy has to be supported by organised actors, institutions, funding, tools, procedures and mechanisms (i.e. governance) to ensure successful implementation.

This book draws on many years of the editors’ work experience in resource-rich Kazakhstan. Initially, this work focused on energy policy with particular emphasis on renewables (Koulouri and Mouraviev, 2018; Mouraviev and Koulouri, 2018, 2019b). The thematic focus later evolved to embrace energy security, its understanding by the majority of people and its conceptualisation by the government as reflected in the nation’s energy policy (Koulouri and Mouraviev, 2019; Mouraviev and Koulouri, 2019a, 2019c). Nonetheless, focusing on energy policy and energy security has been insufficient, as challenges, relating directly or indirectly to the energy field, cannot be addressed in isolation. Some examples of problems with significant spill-over effects beyond one or two sectors include: the use of scarce water resources for hydropower generation and the multiple negative impacts on the local populations, as was the case with the change of operations in the Toktogul reservoir in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan (UNDP, 2004); or, the water quality degradation due to extracting and refining of fossil fuels (UNDP, 2003), which provided 88 per cent of Kazakhstan’s total electricity generation in 2017 (EIA, 2019) and which are a key revenue source for the country’s economy. These and many other examples brought to the fore the need for an integrative approach that would permit the holistic consideration of interlinkages, interdependencies, synergies and trade-offs in policy and governance of the WEF sectors. This edited collection offers insights into the application of the WEF nexus into policy and governance of these sectors from the perspective of relational equity management as an enabler. Therefore, it would be of interest to readers who live, work and/or study in both resource-rich and resource-poor nations.

The book’s main argument is that relational equity management may efficaciously address and overcome the limitations set by sectoral approaches to the governance of the water, energy or food sectors. Further, it may provide a way to create governance structures, processes and tools necessary to solve problems within the WEF nexus. Moreover, the case studies show that relational equity management can be viewed as an innovative way to reconcile competing priorities, such as the goal to increase food production and the need to protect freshwater sources. The book argues that successful policy interventions for the efficient holistic management of the WEF nexus require the impactful engagement of multiple stakeholders including governmental agencies, international and national non-governmental institutions, businesses and civil society. In this collaboration, a critical dimension is the management of stakeholders’ relational equity.

This novel conceptualisation of the governance approach to the WEF nexus is the book’s distinctive and original element. The conceptualisation of nexus to model the interrelationships of the water, energy and food sectors was developed about a decade ago. Since then, researchers have looked into interrelations, synergies and trade-offs between the three nexus elements from a number of perspectives (e.g. technological innovation to address nexus challenges, the nexus in the light of climate change, in dyads). However, none of these contributions has looked into the integration of the nexus concept into policy and governance of the water, energy and food sectors through the lens of relational equity management. This book views the latter as an enabler of successful collaborative policy design and implementation, a way to create and implement appropriate interventions and address issues of environmental and economic sustainability.

The book offers a blend of theoretical/conceptual chapters and case studies, organised in three parts. The first part includes conceptual chapters discussing the management of relational equity as part of the WEF nexus governance framework; the challenges and opportunities in integrating a WEF nexus approach in policy and decision-making; the use of a property rights approach in considering the nexus; and the application of the nexus approach in agricultural policy.

The second part includes case studies in relation to how the nexus concept is implemented to manage WEF issues in Kenya, Central Asia, USA and Peru, highlighting the importance of relational equity management in policy design and implementation. Discussing the application of a WEF nexus approach to address different problems, these case studies offer insights into the challenges and opportunities in adopting a cooperative approach, rather than pursuing national, regional, local or sectoral interests, and into the role of community engagement in WEF nexus policy and governance decision-making within varying contexts. This explains the choice of the cases presented in this edited collection. The case study from northwestern Kenya links nexus governance to human security. The case study from Central Asia details the efforts for the transnational management of the Aral Sea. The case study from the USA analyses the integrative management of water in food and energy production in California. Finally, the case study from Peru discusses the integration of WEF nexus thinking in the environmental governance of a metropolitan area, Lima.

The chapters/cases demonstrate the significance of managing relational equity in governing the WEF sectors in different economic conditions and at different levels – the international level (the Aral Sea in Central Asia), the regional level (northwestern Kenya, California in USA), and the local level (Lima in Peru). Irrespectively of the variety and number of selected cases, it is impossible for any book to capture all perspectives and examples of WEF nexus integration in policy and governance. With this in mind, this edited collection attempts to showcase examples that afford the reader significant breadth of perceptive.

The third part of this edited collection compares and contrasts theoretical perspectives as well as the implementation of a nexus approach elucidated in the book’s chapters and offers conclusions. This part also draws insights into the role relational equity management may play in governing the WEF nexus by discussing implications for policy-making and implementation.

Academics, students and practitioners may equally benefit from the blend of chapters (conceptual as well as practice-oriented) that reinforces the book’s main argument that relational equity management is critically important for applying WEF nexus thinking in policy and governance. To this end, this edited collection provides a novel outlook at the application of the WEF nexus in policy and governance and explores the substantial benefits brought by the holistic consideration of the WEF sectors, offering readers insights into the integrated evaluation of water-energy-food interrelations, interactions, synergies and trade-offs.

As the ultimate purpose of nexus governance is to ensure environmental and economic sustainability, this edited collection is likely to be of interest to scholars concerned with sustainable development and the efficient utilisation of resources from the policy and governance perspectives. Further, the book may be of interest to: staff members in companies, across the globe, in the water, energy and food sectors; government experts involved in the regulation of those sectors; experts in international and national, governmental and non-governmental agencies involved in policy research on water, energy and food; and staff and volunteers in NGOs and consultants working on sustainable development and resource efficiency.

These practitioners may find the book useful as it highlights an array of challenges and opportunities that governments of industrialised and developing countries may face in designing policy and governing the water, energy and food sectors. The analysis of enablers of and barriers to resource management, followed by critical appraisal, will be of interest to practitioners across the globe allowing them to compare and contrast the narrative with their own understanding of the issues associated with developing and implementing policies for sustainable environmental and socio-economic development. Practitioners may identify differences and commonalities regarding how policy for the WEF sectors is developed and implemented in comparison to their experience where they live/work, permitting them to analyse best practice and/or borrow from the experience of other nations.

Researchers and students may also benefit from reading this book, as it offers insights into the implementation of WEF nexus thinking into policy and governance that are not yet commonly shared. The book explores resource management through the application of WEF nexus thinking to policy and governance and argues that successful implementation rests on engaging all stakeholders/actors and drawing on equity mobilisation in managing relationships. By reading this book, academics and students may identify commonalities and differences between developing and industrialised nations regarding how nexus thinking informs, or could inform, policy development and implementation in the three sectors. Readers will have the opportunity to draw comparisons on a broad range of particularities and draw their own insights into the experience of different nations, the opportunities they have and the challenges they face in the nexus governance.

In summary, this book shows WEF nexus governance in action and departs from merely theoretical considerations. The discussion of relational equity management in governing the WEF nexus and integrating it in policy and decision-making, the analysis of the nexus from a property rights perspective and the integration of the nexus into the UK and the European Union agricultural policies as well as the adoption of an integrative approach by developing and industrialised nations, in rural and urban contexts, create a unique blend of practice and theory that may attract a wide spectrum of readers who are interested in the application of WEF nexus to policy and governance, aiming, ultimately, to ensure sustainable resource management.

References

Al-Saidi, M. and Elagib, N.A. (2017). “Towards understanding the integrative approach of the water, energy and food nexus”. Science of the Total Environment, vol. 574, pp 1131–1139.

EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration). (2019). Country Analysis: Kazakhstan. [Online] [Accessed 7 February 2019] Available from: www.eia.gov/beta/international/analysis.php?iso=KAZ.

Koulouri, A. and Mouraviev, N. (2018). “Governance of the clean energy sector in Kazakhstan: Impediments to investment”. International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, vol. 12, no. 1, pp 6–23.

Koulouri, A. and Mouraviev, N. (2019). “Energy security through the lens of renewable energy sources and resource efficiency”. In N. Mouraviev and A. Koulouri (eds) Energy Security: Policy challenges and solutions for resource efficiency. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Mouraviev, N. and Koulouri, A. (2017). “Public-private partnerships as a policy tool for the sustainable utilisation of renewable energy sources: The case of Kazakhstan”. In N. Mouraviev and N. Kakabadse (eds) Public-Private Partnerships in Transitional Nations: Policy, governance and praxis. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Mouraviev, N. and Koulouri, A. (2018). “Clean energy and governance challenges”. International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, vol. 12, no 1, pp. 1–5.

Mouraviev, N. and Koulouri, A. (eds) (2019a). Energy Security: Po...