From a few security indices to the FEW Security Index: Consistency in global food, energy and water security assessment

Venghaus, Sandra; Dieken, Sophia

From a few security indices to the FEW Security Index: Consistency in global food, energy and water security assessment

2019

Venghaus, Sandra | Dieken, Sophia

Following intense debates about a new global development agenda, in 2015 the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were introduced based on the commitment for international collaboration to promote sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development, and environmental protection. In accordance with these objectives, the ‘food–energy–water’ (FEW) nexus developed as an integrative concept to optimize the interdependent uses of the different nexus resources in order to achieve a sustainable, fair allocation of these resources while enabling economic growth. Addressing this challenge, various FEW nexus indices have been published to allow the global comparison of countries’ nexus statuses. Given the complexity of nexus thinking, measuring the state of the nexus is a challenging task in need of a clear methodology. Based on the comparative analysis of selected nexus indices – including our own nexus index (the STE FEW Security Index) – and their underlying methodical approaches, in this paper we discuss the consistency and inconsistencies among these indices as well as their resulting implications.

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