Newton Fund: Links 2015 - Linkages between energy, food and water consumption for Brazil in the context of climate change mitigation strategies The collaborative research project combines the qualitative and quantitative research capabilities of the University of Cambridge, the Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, and the Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Sao Paulo to analyse the linkages between energy, food and water consumption for Brazil, in the context of climate change mitigation strategies.  This project concerns developing a mid- to long-term research programme for the study of technically and legally feasible configurations of the Brazilian energy and agriculture sector in close collaboration between the UK and Brazilian partners. This project will revolve around the use of the technology and decision diffusion model methodology Future Technology Transformations (FTT), under development in Cambridge by a team of 4 researchers led Dr. J.-F. Mercure, along with the global macroeconometric model E3ME (www.e3me.com). This capacity will be linked to an internationally leading research team headed by Prof. Vinuales on political and legal analysis of energy and sustainable development policy. Among subjects of interest will be freshwater and land use changes in relation to the energy and agricultural sectors, using both the FTT modules for the energy and agricultural sectors (FTT:Power, FTT:Agriculture). The targeted analysis will include local and international food demand, trade, as well as changes in employment generated by the development of low-carbon innovations and the diffusion of new technology in both the energy and agriculture sectors. While FTT is operated by the University of Cambridge, E3ME is maintained, operated and developed by Cambridge Econometrics Ltd, who will be in charge of training the Brazilian researchers in the use of the platform E3ME-FTT.  Through detailed analysis of the legal and governance contexts and their cross-sectoral impacts, the project will examine actual and prospective mitigation policies for Brazil, facilitated through close collaboration with local experts, most notably from the PUC-SP, with insights into the local challenges and opportunities. The active collaboration and the development of local analysis capabilities will provide support for capacity-building and knowledge-sharing. Enhanced understanding of the interactions between environmental and societal actions in analysed policies for Brazil could strengthen the generic basis for integration of climate action in the broader development agenda of the country.  A significant part of this networking project aims at building new research capacity, through the exchange of computational tools and training, to researchers from Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina and Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Sao Paulo, who are actively involved in engaging local policy-makers. They will learn how to use the computational platforms E3ME-FTT developed in Cambridge to study specific locally relevant issues of energy, food and water linkages for Brazil, and help devise insight relevant for policy-making. Meanwhile, the Brazilian partners will provide invaluable contextual knowledge on locally relevant issues such that the research has relevance for policy-making, which could impact livelihoods in rural areas and low-income communities.  The activities of this networking project can be divided into six main categories: (1.) Coordination Meetings (2.) International Conference (3.) Training (4.) Publications (5.) Network (6.) Public Awareness The expected result of this networking project is to design a strong and coherent consortium of researchers covering all relevant aspects of the Energy-Water-Food nexus in the context of climate change mitigation policy in Brazil: sustainable development (economics, energy, agriculture) modelling and case studies, environmental policy and law, and a strong connection to networks in Brazil in order to ensure sustained impact. The Newton Fund builds research and innovation partnerships with developing countries across the world to promote the economic development and social welfare of the partner countries.