A Study on Governance of Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Northeast Asian Countries
Authors:   Asia-Europe Perspective Association, Kim Gene Uhc 
Published: December 2024

This paper analyses current situation of Water-Energy-Food(WEF) nexus in northeast asian countries(China, Japan, Korea) and proposes the policy of improvement of the Water-Energy-Food governance.
As the climate change threatens security of Water-Energy-Food and increases future uncertainty and risk, WEF nexus is one of the important issues. As the United Nations University (UNU) initiated the first nexus programme, the Bonn 2011 Nexus Conference contributed to better understanding of the WEF nexus concept and the Dresden conference gave explicit attention to the Water-Energy-Food nexus.
The establishment of optimal policies for Water-Energy-Food can be characterized in three stages. The first stage is integrated management of three sectors(water, energy, food). The second is characterized as security including that of the nations, human health, livelihood and ecosystem services. The third stage will be the nexus of the Water-Energy-Food systems. The nexus framework considers the interconnected nature of the water, energy and food,which include the synergies and tradeoffs.
Even thought OECD Council recommended that Adherents enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of water governance, Integrated Water Resources Management(IWRM) has several problems which consist of no agreement of integrated issues, lack of local situations, lack of administrative capacity, conflict of interests and views, finally coordinative mechanism. Whereas IWRM tries to engage all sectors from a water management perspective, the nexus approach treats different sectors(water, energy, food) as equally important. Elements of governance of WEF nexus involve public agencies and non-state actors exercising authority in the pursuit of desirable goals. Achieving these goals involves strengthening institutions and processes that support horizontal coordination, vertical coordination, stakeholder engagement. Horizontal coordination involves collaboration between different government ministries or departments working in the public sector. Vertical coordination involves interaction between different administrative decision-making levels. A third dimension is the interface or engagement between government and non-state actors(civil society, business, researchers etc.). Comparing IWRM and nexus, the nexus includes broader norms for integrating policy sectors.
According to six different categories of Worldwide Governance Indicators for Northeast Asian countries, japanese governance level is highest and China is lowest country. As China and Japan’s relative weakest criterion is the ‘voice and accountability’, Korean governance is the lowest level of ‘political stability & absence of violence/terrorism’ relatively.
Among Northeast asian countries, Japan is more advanced the application and implementation of WEF nexus approaches. The Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Environmental Protection in China are not only national environmental authorities but also primarily responsible for the environmental governance. Basin commissions serve as designated agencies of Ministry of Water Resources. Local government are authorized by the central government to manage the water resources that flow through their jurisdictions. As China’s Water-Energy-Food nexus raises a number of issues. chinese government would like to solve these issues with neighbouring countries. Because Korea is the lowest level in the water stress among three countries, the OECD is committed to supporting Korean government to reform policies that influence the availability, use and management of Water-Energy-Food. The Korean local governments consider appling the Japanese approach for harmonize three sectors(WEF) together.