Providing life’s essentials for 7.8 billion people and creating living conditions for the growing population leads to numerous challenges. Meeting the needs for food, water, and energy in a manner that preserves the health of all living species and the productivity of future generations is an even more significant challenge.
This challenge differs between high and low-income countries around the world. Low-income, developing countries face many issues including economic and social barriers, proper wastewater management systems, and the inability to provide essential services to millions of people. High-income countries have well-developed production and delivery systems that provide sufficient amounts of food, safe drinking water, and reliable energy for their citizens. These systems effectively make everyday life convenient, however, these systems waste resources and discharge harmful pollutants.
Food
The global prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) increased from 8.4% in 2019 to 9.9% in 2020. According to a United Nations (UN) report, it’s estimated that between 720 and 811 million people faced hunger in 2020 (Whiting, 2022). These predictions are primarily due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global food security (Whiting, 2022). The statistics by countries are devastating as the total number of undernourished people in 2020 (around 768 million), 282 million live in Africa, 418 million live in Asia, and 60 million live in Latin America and the Caribbean. One out of three people in the world (2.37 billion) did not have access to adequate food in 2020 (UN, n.d.).
Water
A World Health Organization (WHO) report published in March shows that more than 2 billion people live in water-stressed countries. When it comes to safe drinking water, WHO reports that at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with feces, chemicals, microbial diseases, and emerging contaminants, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) (WHO, 2022). Cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio, are a few of the diseases transmitted through microbiologically contaminated drinking water, and it is estimated that they cause 485,000 diarrheic deaths annually (WHO, 2022). Access to clean drinking water is a key measure in preventing many diseases including acute respiratory infections and numerous neglected tropical diseases.
Energy
In 2021, The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) calculated that approximately 570 million people had limited access to electricity in 2019. They also approximate that over 75% of the population in 46 lesser-developed countries (LDCs) lack access to electricity, which is particularly notable in rural areas (UNCTAD, 2021). Today, energy access is vital and is closely linked with the timely response of healthcare services to the COVID-19 pandemic. The International Energy Agency (IEA) also published their 2021 Global Energy Review. In their report, they found that the global energy demand dropped by 4% in 2020, which is the largest decline since World War II (IEA,2021). Due to rapid economic recovery and extreme weather conditions, the global electricity demand grew by 6% in 2021, the largest ever annual increase and the largest percentage rise since the 2010 financial crisis (IEA, 2021).
How are these systems linked?
The complexity of providing a sustainable supply of food, water, and energy arises from these factors being unequivocally linked. The food-water-energy nexus is firmly intertwined, making the solutions potentially dangerous and harmful to other areas. Researchers are developing integrated solutions that are systems-oriented toward balancing resource demand and availability. In order to improve the strong connection between growing enough food for the world population, meeting the rising energy needs, and providing clean drinking water, governments, industries, and corporations worldwide need to take steps toward sustainability. The better we understand these connections, the more effective would our actions become in the long run, and the so-called “nexus thinking” will eventually achieve a sustainable future.
What are some examples of sustainable systems?
The food system includes all activities, resources, and people involved in the process of producing food, starting from the farm to end consumers. Making this system sustainable means providing healthy food for the population through sustainable agricultural practices, a more efficient distribution system, and maintaining a sustainable diet while reducing food waste.
The water system provides clean water for various purposes – drinking, irrigation, industry, and wastewater treatment to protect public health and the environment. The ability to meet the population’s water needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same is realized through sustainable water management, which requires a multidisciplinary and holistic approach to address all arising and potential issues.
The energy system generates and distributes electricity and includes all steps in the production and distribution of fuels. Achieving sustainable energy means using resources that maintain current operations without jeopardizing the energy needs, nor impacting climate change. Wind, solar, and hydropower are a few of the most popular renewable sources of sustainable energy.
Sources:
International Energy Agency. (2021). Global Energy Review 2021. IEA, Paris. Retrieved from https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-review-2021
United Nations. (n.d.). Food. United Nations. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/food#:~:text=Nearly%20one%20in%20three%20people,people%20in%20just%20one%20year.
UNCTAD. (2021). Over half of the people in least developed countries lack access to electricity. Retrieved June from https://unctad.org/topic/least-developed-countries/chart-july-2021#:~:text=UNCTAD%20calculations%20show%20that%2C%20in,the%20world%20population%20without%20electricity.
Whiting, K. (2022). Feeding the world: What are the challenges and how can we achieve global food security? World Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/03/global-food-security-challenges-solutions/#:~:text=Between%20720%20million%20and%20811,drivers%20of%20global%20food%20insecurity.
World Health Organization. (2022). Drinking-water. World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water