Impacts of irrigated agriculture on food–energy–water–CO2 nexus across metacoupled systems

TLDR

Irrigated agriculture has important implications for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, yet systematic quantitative analyses of its impacts on the food–energy–water–CO₂ nexus are lacking. The study investigates the impacts of irrigated agriculture on the food–energy–water–CO₂ nexus across the North China Plain, the rest of China, and spillover regions such as Hubei Province, employing life‑cycle assessment, scenario modeling, and a metacoupling framework. The authors applied life‑cycle assessment, scenario modeling, and a metacoupling framework to quantify these impacts. Results show that the North China Plain’s food supply supports sustainability elsewhere but consumes over four times its renewable water, with marked county‑level variations, while Hubei Province suffers significant water and land losses from the South‑to‑North Water Transfer Project, underscoring the need to assess similar impacts globally for sustainability.

Abstract

Abstract Irrigated agriculture has important implications for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, there is a lack of systematic and quantitative analyses of its impacts on food–energy–water–CO 2 nexus. Here we studied impacts of irrigated agriculture on food–energy–water–CO 2 nexus across food sending systems (the North China Plain (NCP)), food receiving systems (the rest of China) and spillover systems (Hubei Province, affected by interactions between sending and receiving systems), using life cycle assessment, model scenarios, and the framework of metacoupling (socioeconomic-environmental interactions within and across borders). Results indicated that food supply from the NCP promoted food sustainability in the rest of China, but the NCP consumed over four times more water than its total annual renewable water, with large variations in food–energy–water–CO 2 nexus across counties. Although Hubei Province was seldom directly involved in the food trade, it experienced substantial losses in water and land due to the construction of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project which aims to alleviate water shortages in the NCP. This study suggests the need to understand impacts of agriculture on food–energy–water–CO 2 nexus in other parts of the world to achieve global sustainability.