The water-energy-food nexus and COVID-19: Towards a systematization of impacts and responses

Al‐Saidi, Mohammad; Hussein, Hussam

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146529

Cited by 68 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 98 publications

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“…This is consistent with recent observations that, generally, energy systems have weathered COVID-19 with no major disruptions, likely due to the overall suppressive effect the pandemic has had on energy demand (discussed in the Demand-Side Stresses section). 26 …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 24 , 25 COVID-19 however reveals that FEW interconnections are vulnerable not just to resource constraints but also to disruptions in human and financial capital on the supply and demand sides. 26 For instance, economic disruptions in the U.S. led to electric and gas arrearages totaling roughly $32 billion by the end of 2020. 27 Existing FEW modeling tools do not consider the human labor and financial capital required to sustain outputs and are therefore poorly suited to evaluating impacts of pandemics on FEW security.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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COVID-19 Reveals Vulnerabilities of the Food–Energy–Water Nexus to Viral Pandemics

Calder

Grady

Jeuland

et al. 2021

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

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Food, energy, and water (FEW) sectors are inextricably linked, making one sector vulnerable to disruptions in another. Interactions between FEW systems, viral pandemics, and human health have not been widely studied. We mined scientific and news/media articles for causal relations among FEW and COVID-19 variables and qualitatively characterized system dynamics. Food systems promoted the emergence and spread of COVID-19, leading to illness and death. Major supply-side breakdowns were avoided (likely due to low morbidity/mortality among working-age people). However, COVID-19 and physical distancing disrupted labor and capital inputs and stressed supply chains, while creating economic insecurity among the already vulnerable poor. This led to demand-side FEW insecurities, in turn increasing susceptibility to COVID-19 among people with many comorbidities. COVID-19 revealed trade-offs such as allocation of water to hygiene versus to food production and disease burden avoided by physical distancing versus disease burden from increased FEW insecurities. News/media articles suggest great public interest in FEW insecurities triggered by COVID-19 interventions among individuals with low COVID-19 case-fatality rates. There is virtually no quantitative analysis of any of these trade-offs or feedbacks. Enhanced quantitative FEW and health models are urgently needed as future pandemics are likely and may have greater morbidity and mortality than COVID-19.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Reveals Vulnerabilities of the Food–Energy–Water Nexus to Viral Pandemics

Calder

Grady

Jeuland

et al. 2021

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

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“…Note that the COVID-19 pandemic has leaded to a unique and systematic stress test that is beyond single natural-resources sectors and requires to provide a systemization of impact, current responses and long-term perspectives of COVID-19 on water-energy-food nexus [9,89].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The risk of coronavirus outbreaks can multiply in high-and low-income countries alike with limited clean water availability and accessibility [7,8]. In particular, water-scarce regions face major challenges to control and prevent the spread of COVID-19 [1,[9][10][11][12]. Because the COVID-19 pandemic may last for years, improved management of urban water systems is a major challenge for water resource planning and management in urban areas [8,[13][14][15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Urban Water Cycle

Heidari¹,

Grigg²

2021

AEER

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global crisis spreading to all countries. This study explains and documents the first-order effects of the new coronavirus on the urban water cycle. Urban water systems play an important role in public health because people rely so heavily on water services. Findings address short- and long-term changes in climate variables; availability and accessibility of clean water to prevent and control the spread of coronavirus in water-scarce cities; shifts in habits, behavior, and lifestyles of people and effects on water demand during lockdowns; and role of wastewater treatment in preventing the spread of coronavirus.

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“…In 2011, Hoff explained the emergence and international urge to respond to global challenges such as climate change, population growth, globalization, economic growth, and urbanizationchallenges that call for a multisectoral approach, which was the case of the water, energy, food and waste (WEFW) sectors [1]. In 2021, Hoff's analysis still represents a major point of reference for recent research studies [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] and has gained new meanings in the context of the European Green Deal [9][10][11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water, Energy, Food, Waste Nexus: Between Synergy and Trade-Offs in Romania Based on Entrepreneurship and Economic Performance

et al. 2021

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Boosting the externalities across the water, energy, food, and waste (WEFW) sectors is challenging, especially considering tightening constraints such as population growth, climate change, resource-intensive lifestyles, increased waste production, sanitary crises and many others. The nexus approach supports the transition to a more sustainable future because intersectoral trade-offs can be reduced and externalities exploited, making imperative for decision makers, entrepreneurs, and civil society to simultaneously engage, with respect to all the components of the nexus. This research addressed intersectoral synergies and trade-offs in the case of the WEFW nexus in Romania, judging from the perspectives of entrepreneurial activity and economic results. The objective of this research was to explore the nexus in-depth by statistically analyzing the financial and economic indicators reported by active enterprises at county-level, based on the Romanian Ministry of Public Finance data. Research results describe the effects of the policies implemented in the fields of WEFW sectors. At the same time, attention was paid to the quality of the entrepreneurial activity, analyzed from the perspective of economic performance. This paper fills a research gap regarding the WEFW nexus by resorting to an economic and entrepreneurial performance assessment in order to find sectoral pathways toward policy cohesion in Romania. Findings suggested the existence of major trade-offs among sectors, owing to the fact that each county has a different development degree.

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The water-energy-food nexus and COVID-19: Towards a systematization of impacts and responses

Cited by 68 publications

References 98 publications

COVID-19 Reveals Vulnerabilities of the Food–Energy–Water Nexus to Viral Pandemics

COVID-19 Reveals Vulnerabilities of the Food–Energy–Water Nexus to Viral Pandemics

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Urban Water Cycle

Water, Energy, Food, Waste Nexus: Between Synergy and Trade-Offs in Romania Based on Entrepreneurship and Economic Performance

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