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Water, Energy, Food and People Across the Global South pp 325–332Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Afterward: Closing Thoughts on the Water–Food–Energy–Climate Nexus

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Part of the book series: International Political Economy Series ((IPES))

Abstract

In the space of a decade, the concept of the “nexus” has gained considerable traction as a holistic, and allegedly disruptive, approach to thinking about current environmental issues. The content of the nexus varies across reports and conferences and speeches—there is the water–energy nexus, the water–energy–food nexus, the water–energy–food–climate nexus and so on (e.g. McCornick et al. 2008; Perrone and Hornberger 2014; Poppy et al. 2014; WBCSD 2009; WEF 2009; for an annotated bibliography, see Williams 2014). But those embracing this concept appear less concerned about reaching broad agreement on what it does and does not include than they are about reaching an agreement that the concept itself is innovative, inclusive and useful for understanding and addressing contemporary environmental challenges.

This Afterword is a substantial revision and abbreviation of Matthew (2017).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

    Richard A. Matthew

Authors
  1. Richard A. Matthew
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Larry A. Swatuk

  2. Coady International Institute, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Corrine Cash

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Matthew, R.A. (2018). Afterward: Closing Thoughts on the Water–Food–Energy–Climate Nexus. In: Swatuk, L., Cash, C. (eds) Water, Energy, Food and People Across the Global South. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64024-2_13

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