The Human-Earth System Coupling Team of the Faculty of Geographical Science Published a Paper in Nature Sustainability
On April 2, the Human-Earth System Coupling Team of the Faculty of Geographical Science published a paper entitled "The dual impact of trade on the water–energy–food nexus globally" in Nature Sustainability. The study delineates the underlying mechanisms by which international trade shapes the global water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. It reveals that international trade has curbed the overall consumption of water, food and energy resource globally. Yet, its impacts exhibit remarkable regional heterogeneity across the world. By leveraging regional comparative advantages, international trade has enhanced the synergy of the global WEF nexus. At the same time, it has exacerbated inequalities across different regions and income groups worldwide.
The abstract of this paper is as follows:
Global trade underpins sustainable development by linking water, energy and food across distant regions, yet how it reshapes transboundary synergies and trade-offs within this nexus remains poorly understood. Here, by constructing water–energy–food (WEF) networks that integrate cross-border resource flows, we quantify trade-driven changes in the WEF nexus, contrasting actual trade with counterfactual no-trade scenarios. We find that trade has a dual impact on the WEF nexus, fostering cooperative gains while reinforcing cross-country disparities. High-income countries achieve stronger WEF synergies that promote balanced gains in water, energy and food security, whereas low- and lower-middle-income countries experience greater trade-offs characterized by intensified resource competition. Trade deepens cross-regional imbalances, with Europe and North America strengthening internal coordination and acting as connectors for cross-regional synergies, while Central and South Asia exhibit intensified WEF trade-offs both within and across regions. Food-centred competition over water and energy use drives nexus trade-offs, with factors including tariff barriers, economic expansion and logistics connectivity reinforcing this competition. Our findings suggest that countries can complement existing goal- and country-specific actions with stronger cross-border coordination to reduce WEF nexus inequalities in support of 2030 targets and aspirations towards 2045.
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