Impacts of irrigated agriculture on food–energy–water–CO2 nexus across metacoupled systems

Abstract

Irrigated agriculture has important implications for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, there is a lack of systematic and quantitative analyses of its impacts on food–energy–water–CO2 nexus. Here we studied impacts of irrigated agriculture on food–energy–water–CO2 nexus across food sending systems (the North China Plain (NCP)), food receiving systems (the rest of China) and spillover systems (Hubei Province, affected by interactions between sending and receiving systems), using life cycle assessment, model scenarios, and the framework of metacoupling (socioeconomic-environmental interactions within and across borders). Results indicated that food supply from the NCP promoted food sustainability in the rest of China, but the NCP consumed over four times more water than its total annual renewable water, with large variations in food–energy–water–CO2 nexus across counties. Although Hubei Province was seldom directly involved in the food trade, it experienced substantial losses in water and land due to the construction of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project which aims to alleviate water shortages in the NCP. This study suggests the need to understand impacts of agriculture on food–energy–water–CO2 nexus in other parts of the world to achieve global sustainability.

ANEMI_Yangtze v1.0: An Integrated Assessment Model of the Yangtze Economic Belt - Model Description

“…At present, the fishery resources in the Yangtze river are seriously depleted. To date, wild capture fisheries production decreased to less than 100 thousand tonnes, falling well short of the maximum output of 427 thousand tonnes in the 1950s (Zhang et al, 2020). The eggs and larvae of the four major Chinese carps (the dominant commercial species in the Yangtze River) were approximately 1.11 billion in 2015, accounting for only 1% of historical production in 1965 (Yi et al, 1988;Zhang et al, 2017).…”

“…The eggs and larvae of the four major Chinese carps (the dominant commercial species in the Yangtze River) were approximately 1.11 billion in 2015, accounting for only 1% of historical production in 1965 (Yi et al, 1988;Zhang et al, 2017). Habitat fragmentation and shrinkage as a result of reclamation of lakes for farmland and dam construction, together with overfishing and water pollution, are the main factors threatening aquatic biodiversity in the Yangtze river (Jiang et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020). In an effort to protect Yangtze's aquatic life, a 10-year commercial fishing ban on the Yangtze was introduced in 2020.…”

“…The research and policy-making communities were rapidly attracted by the proposed framework (Daher and Mohtar, 2015;Smajgl et al, 2016;Garcia and You, 2016;Weitz et al, 2017;Liu et al, 2017;Xu et al, 2020). The WEF nexus offers a promising approach to identifying trade-offs and synergies of WEF systems and guiding cross-sectoral policies.…”

Efficiency Evaluation and Projection Improvement of the Industrial Water–Energy Nexus in China Based on Network Data Envelopment Analysis

“…Some studies focus on exploring water-energy nexus-related applications in different ranges, from the urban level, regional level, and national level to the cross-national level (Kızıltan, 2021). Some researchers devote to propose technical models to quantify the coupling relations between water and energy resources (Xu et al, 2020).…”

Decomposition of Water Footprint of Food Consumption in Typical East Chinese Cities

“…The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations proposed the expectations for future water availability and sustainable usage, which recognized the vital role of water management in urban sustainable development [1][2][3]. As a major water consumer, agricultural food production currently has the largest share in the total water consumption (61.2%) of China [4][5][6].…”