Strong trade-offs characterise water-energy-food related sustainable development goals in the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna River basin
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15545593 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christian Siderius (0000-0002-2201-9728, Wageningen University & Research, corresponding author), Paul van Walsum (Wageningen University & Research), Hester Biemans (0000-0001-8750-2553, Wageningen University & Research) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 105005-105005 |
| Publication date | 2022-09-26 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/ac94e9 |
| OpenAlex | W4297094321 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 48 |
The United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs) set ambitious policy targets for 2030 to overcome poverty while preserving the planet. These goals are not perfectly aligned; trade-offs emerge during implementation at regional and local levels, such as in a river basin. Here, we quantify important trade-offs between water, energy, and food-related SDGs in the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna River basin, a climate vulnerability hotspot, using multi-objective optimisation based on detailed water resources and crop production modelling and accounting for uncertainties in the costs of water, labour, and land. The trade-off between food production and agricultural profit is strong; the amount of people fed would be reduced by more than two-thirds, were profitability maximized. However, we do see the potential to achieve higher profitability in agriculture against limited loss of food and hydropower production and limited impact on downstream environmental flows, although continued reliance on groundwater and energy, currently unsustainable, needs to be mitigated
Agricultural productivity · Agriculture · Business · Drainage basin · Economics · Food energy · Food processing · Food security · Geography · Hydropower · Natural resource economics · Profitability index · Sustainability · Sustainable development · Water resource management · Water resources · Energy and Environment Impacts · Environmental Science · Water resources management and optimization · Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies · Ecology
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Mapping synergies and trade-offs between energy and the Sustainable Development Goals
The Global Food‐Energy‐Water Nexus
Managing nitrogen for sustainable development
The paradox of irrigation efficiency
The Water-Energy-Food Nexus
Climate Change Impacts on Global Food Security
High‐resolution mapping of the world's reservoirs and dams for sustainable river‐flow management
Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India
A safe operating space for humanity
South Asian agriculture increasingly dependent on meltwater and groundwater
Integrated crop water management might sustainably halve the global food gap
Solar pumps and South Asia’s energy-groundwater nexus
Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis
Agricultural intensification, irrigation and the environment in South Asia
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Implementing the “Sustainable Development Goals”
Adapting food systems of the Indo-Gangetic plains to global environmental change
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| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |