The “Nexus” approach is the one that focuses on overlaps across sectors while respecting sectoral expertise in order to make better plans by understanding interactions (Stockholm Environment Institute, 2017). iThis will be the second Nexus Conference that The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has organized.

The conference will facilitate space for the development of collaborative work and focus on the:

• science-policy interface
• partnerships
• solutions
• review of Sustainable Development Goal commitments (2018 and for the Heads of State review in 2019)
• sharing of tools, indicators and methodologies; and
• the identification of gaps

It will build on recognizing and respecting the work that sector experts are engaged with while also addressing some key challenges that will require a Nexus approach these include:

• agriculture will have to produce 30-50 per cent more food by 2030
• primary energy needs will increase by 40 per cent by 2030
• demand for water will exceed global availability by 40 per cent in 2030
• surge of 200 million climate change refugees will reverse global healthcare progress by 2050