Water, energy, food, health and nature
Water, energy, food, health and nature are the systems that keep people alive and economies running. They depend on each other at every step: energy pumps and treats water, water cools power plants and grows food, healthy ecosystems regulate water and disease, and health systems need all of them. The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) studies these five systems together, as the core of the Nexus approach, and each has an established specialist platform. This page is part of global challenges.
- 01InstitutionThe Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)
- 02Service levelR0: information and enquiries
- 03In briefThe short answer
- 04The five systemsOne coupled core, five specialist communities
- 05Why togetherSingle-sector plans can move risk instead of reducing it
- 06How the work connectsFrom the core to specialist fields and other sites
- 07Key termsTerms used on this page
GCRI · Institution · service level R0
The short answer.
Life-support systems are water, energy, food, health and nature: the coupled systems that keep people alive and economies running. Energy pumps and treats water, water cools power plants and grows food, ecosystems regulate water and disease, and health systems need all of them, so GCRI studies the five together as the core of the Nexus approach.
Water security in Chile.
Rivers, lakes and how far each division sits from mapped surface water, shown for Chile as an example geography for this subject.
One coupled core, five specialist communities.
| System | Depends on | Specialist platform |
|---|---|---|
| Water | Rainfall and groundwater, ecosystems that regulate flow, energy for pumping and treatment | Water Nexus |
| Energy | Water for cooling and hydropower, fuels and minerals, digital control | Energy Nexus |
| Food | Water, soils and pollinators, fertilizer and fuel, ports and cold chains | Food Nexus |
| Health | Clean water and sanitation, reliable power, medical supply chains, a healthy environment | Health Nexus |
| Nature | Land-use choices, water flows, climate and pollution levels | Biodiversity Nexus |
The five field platforms are established and published by GCRI at their current addresses.
Single-sector plans can move risk instead of reducing it.
One gain, another cost
Irrigation expansion can raise food output while drawing down aquifers that cities and power plants rely on.
One action, several gains
Restoring a watershed can reduce flood peaks, protect water quality and support livelihoods at once.
One shock, several systems
A heatwave can strain power, water, crops and hospitals in the same week.
From the core to specialist fields and other sites.
Each field platform applies named methods, from hydrology to epidemiology and ecology. Field gateways bring the three institutions together, for example the water field gateway. Infrastructure that links the systems is covered under infrastructure dependencies, and the wider dynamics under systemic and cascading risks.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Water-energy-food nexus | An approach that analyses water, energy and food security together because each depends on the others and trade-offs between them are unavoidable. |
| Life-support systems | The natural and engineered systems people depend on to live, such as water, energy, food, health services and ecosystems, whose failure cascades into each other. |
| Ecosystem services | The contributions ecosystems make to human well-being, such as pollination, flood regulation, clean water, food and cultural value. |
| One Health | An integrated approach that aims to balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems, as the Quadripartite organizations define it. |
Governance and finance views of the core.
The Global Risks Forum (GRF) examines shared governance, including its water and food security governance chapter. The Global Risks Alliance (GRA) examines protection gaps and finance readiness, for example under protection gaps.
Questions and answers.
Why these five systems?
Where does critical infrastructure fit?
How do I join a field community?
Do the platforms publish country data?
Around GCRI.
Start with an enquiry.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.