GWI editor of book on Water-Energy-Food in the Pacific
GWI is pleased to announce its role through Dr Andrew Dansie as Editor-in-Chief for the Pacific volume of a book series titled ‘Water-Energy-Food Security Nexus - South East Asia and the Pacific’. The announcement was made following an editorial meeting hosted by UNESCO in Bangkok in January 2019 alongside the THA 2019 on Water Management and Climate Change towards Asia’s Water-Energy-Food Nexus and SDGs. The book will be published by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and Springer Nature in 2020 under the Series ‘Water Security in a New World’.
The unique geography of the Pacific provides sound rationale to include the 25 countries of the region in a single volume of the three-book series, alongside books on the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus in Southeast Asia (edited by Simon Fraser University) and West and Central Asia (edited by the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources). The production of the series is being co-edited by UNESCO and supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).
Addressing the WEF Nexus in the Pacific poses unique challenges and opportunities for cohesion. Also referred to as Oceania, the region is characterised by island nations, ranging from the continent-sized Australia to atoll nations such as Kiribati. The 40 million people that live in this region belong to either Micronesia, Polynesia, Melanesia or Australasia sub-regions. The cultural backgrounds of these sub-regions are distinct, yet geographically they all face the same regional challenges and opportunities for the provision of secure water, energy and food resources in this ocean-dominated portion of the globe. Each of these resources will be considered in detail through invited chapter authors from throughout the region.
The book will include a regional overview of water, energy and food resources and needs in the Pacific, considering traditional livelihoods as well as historical, current and emerging trends. Cross cutting regional issues will be detailed—first and foremost the issue of climate change in the Pacific. The existing and forecast impacts of anthropogenic climate change are to be detailed, focusing on the increased severity and occurrence of cyclonic storm events, rising sea levels and changing rainfall patterns and what it means for the WEF nexus. Regional consideration of the water-energy and water-food interactions will then be considered and the drivers behind these explained. The reliance on marine transport in Oceania will be presented as a regional issue, with the economic costs to service disperse populations across a vast region a uniquely Pacific consideration.
The nexus approach will include both the trade and waste considerations for Pacific Island nations and innovative and economically viable solutions—both those already in place and those envisaged for the future. The vulnerability of coastal infrastructure and its keystone role in connectivity across the regions will be described using data and analyses from Pacific Island countries.
Finally, cross-cutting analyses will be presented to raise the policy considerations for addressing climate change, mitigating its impacts, and promoting the nexus approach. When developing and implementing policy, an inclusive approach will be presented that is aware of and empowers disadvantaged members of society. Women, youth, minorities, those living in poverty and other disadvantaged groups will all be given a voice.
