Opinion: The nexus imperative

Nexus is the defining concept for this age of complexity, volatility, uncertainty and contestation.

What does nexus mean; and why the nexus imperative?

Nexus refers to a focal point; the intersection or connection between things, people or events. It is the key concept for our generation because of the many intersecting forces shaping our lives and prospects: from climate change to biodiversity, health, water, food and so on. No one of these challenges exists or can be addressed in isolation. Nexus thinking and action are therefore imperative in this age of turbulence, with planet-altering environmental change accelerating in parallel with unprecedented socio-technical and geopolitical change.

The predominant framing of societal problems and solutions is based on breaking down the whole into constituent parts to better understand each element. Hence disciplinary compartmentalisation, sectoral specialisations and siloed organisations. But the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Hence our ongoing struggle to understand contemporary societal problems and chart a course that is just and sustainable for people and the planet. And, consequently, the nexus imperative.

And the world’s first global nexus assessment has just been released.

The 11th session of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES 11) took place in Windhoek, Namibia from 10-16 December 2024. A key outcome of the session was approval of the IPBES Nexus Assessment by representatives from nearly 150 countries. The report has been three years in the making.

The IPBES Nexus Assessment is a big deal – though few seem to have heard of IPBES. Think the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); IPBES is the organisational equivalent focused on biodiversity. The mission of IPBES is to strengthen policy- and decision-making through research and science for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, human wellbeing and sustainable development.

The Assessment explores interactions between these nexus elements through to 2100 across a variety of scenarios. It explores a range of response options and the costs of inaction and the risks and implications of ignoring these intersections; as well as the benefits of nexus thinking and governance action from the local to global levels. It stresses the importance of urgent action.

The authors include 165 selected experts from 57 countries. The assessment went through rigorous expert and governmental review before reaching plenary for approval at IPBES 11 last week.

For far too long, well-intentioned efforts have focused on issues of societal concern, like biodiversity loss or climate change, in isolation. All too often actions to address one problem compound or exacerbate other ‘joined-up’ problems. By synthesising scientific understanding about biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change, the IPBES Nexus Assessment sheds light on pivotal interconnections between these elements, and how we might navigate turbulent times through nexus thinking and action.

I was privileged to serve in two roles in the Nexus Assessment: First, as a Lead Author for Chapter Six: Options for delivering sustainable approaches to public and private finance for biodiversity-related elements of the nexus. Second, as a Coordinating Lead Author for Chapter Seven: A summary and synthesis of options, knowledge and technology gaps, and capacity development and a roadmap for holistic approaches to decision-making.

Two of the Assessment’s key messages are:

1. There are significant gaps in finance to meet biodiversity needs – in the order of USD $0.3-1 trillion per year; and at least USD $4 trillion investment is necessary to advance the Sustainable Development Goals associated with biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change. Importantly, financial investment is necessary but not sufficient. The underlying values, worldviews and structures of the political economy that thwart just and sustainable development need to be transformed.
2. Prevailing compartmentalised governance practices need to be transformed to enable more inclusive, integrative, equitable, accountable and adaptive approaches to improve prospects for people and the planet. Nexus governance encourages holistic and transdisciplinary approaches to better understand and address priority societal challenges and unlock opportunities. Nexus governance opens opportunities for meaningful engagement of the most at-risk and disadvantaged amongst us – in both the Global North and South. Nexus governance is more than technically robust and scientifically informed; it builds on local, tacit and Indigenous knowledges and ways of being; and it institutionalises a values-based approach to public decision-making because justice, equity, human rights, and our collective wellbeing matter – for people and the planet.

But we are now at a turning point – a nexus – for understanding and addressing the complex challenges facing current and future generations and this treasured place we call New Zealand.

The integrative, transdisciplinary National Science Challenges have been halted. The basis for funding and conducting research in New Zealand is under review as our universities and research institutions struggle to make ends meet. To compound matters, the Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology has halted Marsden funding for blue-sky social science and humanities research – on the grounds that only ‘hard science’ and technology can advance the economy. Is this a harbinger of things to come?

Our environmental governance regime is being overhauled. The Government has decided that a “fast-track” approach is the most appropriate way to address our complex and contested intertwined cultural-socio-economic-political-environmental issues; all but quashing opportunity for public scrutiny, deliberation and reflexivity. Again, the economy is deified over social, cultural and environmental values.

And the Government’s Treaty Principles Bill unilaterally sets out to limit Māori rights and Crown obligations, provoking more than 42,000 people to protest outside parliament, and many more in support around the country. The cultural and moral affront is lost on those advocating the Bill.

The nexus imperative is clear and compelling. And the IPBES Nexus Assessment provides an important foundation for recalibrating our thinking and action in New Zealand and around the world.

Read more about the IPBES report on the BBC.

School of People, Environment and Planning Professor Bruce Glavovic has over 35 years of experience as a government official, policy advisor and consultant planner and academic. His research centres on the role of governance in building resilient and sustainable communities.