Enhancing resilience to climate change: Addressing cascading risks within the energy, water and food nexus

The growing global demand for energy, water, and food presents a challenge to sustainable development. This challenge is further intensified by the expanding human population and the rapid pace of industrialization, which together exert intense pressure on these essential resources. Recent trends indicate a significant increase in energy usage, and it is expected that water and food requirements will also increase. Such pressures highlight the critical need to understand and manage the interconnected nature and associated risks, including cascading risks, within the energy, water, and food sectors. This study delves into the relationship between climate change risks and the Energy-Water-Food (EWF) nexus, assessing the diverse impacts of risk categories on distinct sectors. Furthermore, it expands on the concept of cascading risks, an area often overlooked, across two primary dimensions: hazards, which can evolve into cascading and compound hazards; and systems, where failures can propagate between interdependent systems or even within their own boundaries. Building on the reviewed concepts, a framework is proposed to quantify cascading performance within EWF nexus considering the dynamic interactions of the involved elements to reinforce their resilience. • Consecutive hazards pose real and complex risks, yet are under-investigated. • Climate change could increase the possibility of compound and cascading risks. • The EWF Nexus consists of a complex portfolio of interconnected elements. • Proposing a quantitative framework to assess EWF Nexus performance under risks. • Resilience is essential for safeguarding the EWF Nexus against complex hazards. • The paper suggests a framework to gauge the EWF Nexus under cascading risks.