The right to water emerged in the nineties primarily as the right to domestic water for drinking, washing and cooking, and was closely related to the right to sanitation, both of which are seen as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living. This study examines the question of the right to water for food and agriculture and asks whether such a right can be found in the right to water, or whether it is more appropriate to examine the right to adequate food for that purpose. Seeking inspiration from the right to adequate food and from other fields of international law, the study explores the content of the right to water for food and agriculture and then considers its implications for water law. Recognizing a human right to water – for drinking and household needs as well as for growing food – has implications for water allocation and sets limits to the extent that water can be allocated for other uses. In addition, it entails the respect for procedural rights and attention to important principles, such as the principle of non-discrimination and the rights of indigenous peoples.

The governance of the water, energy, and food (WEF) nexus is significant in the Arctic, where environmental changes are occurring at an accelerated pace, intensifying resource dynamics and geopolitical implications. Against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving Arctic landscape shaped by the global climate change, melting ice, and resource exploration, the WEF nexus emerges as a vital framework for understanding and addressing the region’s complex resource interdependencies. Nonetheless, legal research in this context is still in its early stages, and, specifically in the context of the Arctic, we did not find any such research. This study assesses a nexus approach to WEF in Arctic’s transdisciplinary and multifaceted environment from an international law perspective to address the intricate dynamics that shape the resilience and security of WEF resources in an increasingly interconnected and accessible Arctic. Our objective in this study is to introduce international law as an overarching network of international rules and principles, legal instruments, and relevant institutions as a starting point to address the WEF governance intricacies in the Arctic, facilitating the harmonization of diverse interests, ensuring equitable access to resources, and promoting sustainable development. We argue that international law constitutes the essential means to address a nexus approach to WEF and its issues and complexities in a transboundary context within the Arctic. By examining existing international legal frameworks applicable to the Arctic and related instruments, policies, journals, and other publications, this paper seeks to canvas how international law is in support of a nexus approach to WEF in this region.

For the sustainable communities, there is a strong need to address the United Nations' sustainable development goals for communities, cities and countries. In this paper, we develop a unique hybrid energy system for cleaner productions of energy, fuel, food and water for an indigenous community by addressing the following goals, namely: zero hunger; clean water; affordable and clean energy; industry, innovation and infrastructure; sustainable cities and communities; and climate action. Also, the present sustainable system is investigated thermodynamically by considering energy and exergy criteria and evaluated through energy and exergy efficiencies. As a case study, the Saugeen First Nation indigenous community in the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada, is selected for meeting the demands of useful commodities where an integration of a newly developed multigenerational system with an existing nuclear reactor is achieved in order to provide food security, supply the freshwater for drinking purposes, and meet the community's electricity and heat demands. Moreover, to exploit the existing thermophysical properties of fluids in the nuclear system, a hydrogen generation unit is proposed. The novel integration is enhanced the current nuclear system and increased the variety of useful outputs. The overall system is analyzed according to the first and second laws of thermodynamics. A transient (time-dependent) analysis is carried out via hourly simulations with software packages and hourly sensitive meteorological data. The overall system performance results are obtained as 65.8% for energy efficiency and 40.1% exergy efficiency at average ambient conditions for a 126.04 mol/s hydrogen production rate.