ABSTRACT

In recent years the concept of the resource "nexus" has been both hotly debated and widely adopted in research and policy circles. It is a powerful new way to understand and better govern the myriad complex relationships between multiple resources, actors and their security concerns. Particular attention has been paid to water, energy and food interactions, but land and materials emerge as critical too. This comprehensive handbook presents a detailed review of current knowledge about resource nexus-related frameworks, methods and governance, including a broad set of inter-disciplinary perspectives.

Written by an international group of scholars and practitioners, the volume focuses on rigorous research, including tools, methods and modelling approaches to analyse resource use patterns across societies and scales from a "nexus perspective". It also provides numerous examples from political economy to demonstrate how resource nexus frameworks can illuminate issues such as land grabs, mining, renewable energy and the growing importance of economies such as China, as well as to propose lessons and outlooks for sound governance.

The volume seeks to serve as an essential reference text, source book and state-of-the-art, science-based assessment of this increasingly important topic – the resource nexus – and its utility in efforts to enhance sustainability of many kinds and implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in an era of environmental and geopolitical change.

part I|63 pages

Understanding the resource nexus

part III|96 pages

Resource nexus modelling

chapter 13|14 pages

Global change and K-waves

Exploring future nexus patterns

chapter 14|13 pages

Foresight and scenarios

Modelling practices and resource nexus assessment

chapter 16|17 pages

The five-node resource nexus dynamics

An integrated modelling approach

part 253IV|91 pages

International political economy and the resource nexus

part V|79 pages

Applying the resource nexus

chapter 24|12 pages

The energy–materials nexus

The case of metals

chapter 26|14 pages

Feeding Africa

Nexus-related opportunities, challenges and policy options

chapter 27|18 pages

The five-node resource nexus at sea

part VI|78 pages

Governing the resource nexus

chapter 30|11 pages

Green chemistry

Opportunities, waste and food supply chains