The cascading disaster risk of water, energy and food systems

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study presents a modified Institutional Analysis and Development framework for the purposes of analysing and developing policies to address cascading disasters in interconnected water, energy, and food (WEF) sectors. The aim of the framework is to inform how policymakers can synchronize and coordinate cross-sectoral and trans-governmental policies to manage cascading WEF disasters. To justify its applicability, we have tested the framework in a WEF related cascading disaster case that occurred in Iqaluit – the capital of Nunavut in Canada. Iqaluit is a city with limited access and heavy dependency on imported food and energy. On 2 October 2021, Iqaluit residents first began reporting contamination in their piped water sources. It was revealed that the pollution occurred from a fuel leak in a storage site located near a water supply facility. To cope with the disaster, the Nunavut and Federal governments undertook a series of responses that resulted in some unpredicted consequences. The study concludes that compartmentalized and sector-specific disaster planning, and preparedness slow down government agencies’ responses to a hazard event. It also reveals that uncertainties associated with cascading disasters can be best understood and thus responded to through discursive learning.