Ecosystem services in the Swedish water-energy-food-land-climate nexus: Anthropogenic pressures and physical interactions

Lotte Van Den Heuvel,Malgorzata Blicharska,Sara Masia,Janez Sušnik,Claudia Teutschbein

doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2020.101141

Abstract

Traditionally, challenges of natural resource management have been addressed with a sectoral policy approach. However, it is increasingly recognised that different sectors are interconnected in a complex and mutually interacting system. A nexus approach is proposed to identify synergies and trade-offs between sectors and to foster the sustainable and efficient use of resources, particularly in light of climate change. The nexus approach has led to studies identifying interactions between policy objectives across nexus sectors, but the physical interactions between nexus sectors that can be the result of policy interactions, have received less attention. Nevertheless, such interactions can have severe consequences for the environment, affecting ecosystems and the services they provide. Integrating the nexus approach and the ecosystem service concept may help to better understand pressures and impacts related to a resource nexus and to address trade-offs. In this study, literature and expert assessment are used to analyse the water-energy-food-land-climate nexus in Sweden through the lens of the ecosystem services concept to gain insights into interactions between the nexus sectors. By demonstrating how anthropogenic pressures originating from the nexus sectors affect ecosystem functions and services, this paper serves as a foundation to further inform policy making (within and outside Sweden) when considering the water-energy-food-land-climate nexus.

Highlights

Global change is a growing problem, governed by demographic, economic and climatological drivers
To gain insight into these interactions, this study focuses on the anthropogenic pressures and the physical interactions between the water-energy-food-land-climate nexus sectors in Sweden, through an ecosystem service lens and using the nexus approach to assess the interactions
Results indicate that the energy and food sectors were responsible for most of these pressures (52), and that there was a clear distinction between land-based production and water-based production

Summary

Introduction

Global change is a growing problem, governed by demographic, economic and climatological drivers. Challenges regarding natural resource management have often been addressed with a sectoral policy approach (siloes), in which impacts on one sector as a result of policy or resource changes in another were largely overlooked This approach often failed and there is growing evidence that there are complex interlinkages between the water, energy, and food sectors that should be considered in decision-making processes (FAO, 2014; WEF, 2016; Al-Saidi and Elagib, 2017). A novel way to address this complexity is the ‘nexus approach’, which attempts to identify synergies and trade-offs between sectors (Albrecht et al, 2018) Such an approach fosters sustainable and efficient use of resources that is needed to deal with challenges related to climate change, global development and resource scarcity (Hoff, 2011).

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Results

Conclusion