Change in direction of scarcity trajectory: Innovation at the water, energy, and food nexus
ONE of the greatest challenges of the 21st century is the problem of how the public and private sectors can sustain economic development and business growth in the face of accelerating demand for water, energy, and food. “Business as usual” projections of scarcity in water, energy, and food predict a lack of these resources sufficient to sustain economic and business growth as well as an adequate standard of living worldwide. Especially troublesome is that many of the low- and medium-income economies, which many multinational companies are targeting for growth, are where water, energy, and food shortages are expected to be most acute.
Fortunately, there are signals that many organizations are taking step to act & take us off the scarcity trajectory. Competition for water, food, and energy has driven innovation in partnerships through ecosystems of shareholders and technologies. Several Institutional have also innovated in the ways they work together to address this nexus issue. Collective action4 and “aligned action”5 have become powerful tools in activating ecosystems of stakeholders to address complex or “wicked” problems.