Linking Environmental Policy Integration and the Water-Energy-Land-(Food-)Nexus: A Review of the European Union’s Energy, Water, and Agricultural Policies

Sandra Venghaus, Carolin Märker, Sophia Dieken and Florian Siekmann
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Sandra Venghaus: Institute of Energy and Climate Research: Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEK-STE), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany
Carolin Märker: Institute of Energy and Climate Research: Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEK-STE), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany
Sophia Dieken: Institute of Energy and Climate Research: Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEK-STE), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany
Florian Siekmann: Institute of Energy and Climate Research: Systems Analysis and Technology Evaluation (IEK-STE), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, Germany

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-16

Abstract: Against the backdrop of climate and environmental pressures, as well as limited resource availability and trade conflicts, devising policies for energy and the use of natural resources in general becomes exceedingly complex. Moreover, policies are required to account for interrelations between individual resources and between different sectors and policy fields, but implementation often lacks. To evaluate the current state of integrated policy design in the EU, a review of European energy, water, and agricultural policies was conducted. Using a qualitative comparative research approach, the objective was to identify and explain the differing degrees and variations in policy integration among them. To this aim, the concepts “Environmental Policy Integration” and “Water-Energy-Land Nexus” were jointly applied as analytical frameworks. The analysis revealed that currently, different authorities are endowed with largely sectoral mandates. Accordingly, the respective sectoral policy sets are historically grown based on differing sets of formal and informal rules and processes, thus making policy integration among the sectors, let alone within the nexus, a highly challenging task.

Keywords: water-energy-land nexus; environmental policy integration; policy analysis; European Union (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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