PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Water
Sec. Water and Human Systems
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frwa.2025.1567262
This article is part of the Research TopicLeading Perspectives on Water SecurityView all 4 articles
Water security in the polycrisis: Between negative and positive tipping points
Provisionally accepted
- University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
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Water security is facing multiple stressors in the emerging polycrisis of the Anthropocene, with a great acceleration challenging planetary boundaries and human livelihoods. In a framework of interactions the hydrological cycle is connected to the Earth's ecological and social systems, becoming a potential crisis multiplier through pathways in the water-food-energy nexus and the water-climate-conflict nexus. Water security balances protection of natural water resources and societal efforts to meet human needs, identify nexus tradeoffs and synergies, and facilitate transitions from negative to positive tipping points. Beyond simple narratives of water wars, various conflict types are considered, from water scarcity and abundance as conflict drivers to water as a weapon, target and casualty of conflict. To contain water-related tensions and strengthen cooperation in water distribution and control, investments and institutional mechanisms preserve the natural resource base, support technical and social innovations for efficient, sufficient, resilient, fair, peaceful and sustainable water use, and collaborate on integrated water sharing and trust building in environmental cooperation, conflict transformation and peacebuilding. Assessments and solutions are illustrated for local water systems and regional hot spots in Africa, Middle East, South, East and Central Asia.
Keywords: water-climate-conflict nexus, water-energy-food nexus, tipping points, Polycrisis, water cooperation and environmental peacebuilding, water security
Received: 26 Jan 2025; Accepted: 13 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Scheffran. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jürgen Scheffran, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
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