Mekong Forum on Water, Food and Energy. 2012. Presentation from Session 5: Sharing for Energy, Water and Food

1. PES, Benefit Sharing, and the Nexus:
Value added or value subtracted?
Dennis Wichelns
Institute of Water Policy
National University of Singapore
The Mekong Forum on
Water, Food, and Energy
Hanoi, November 13-14, 2012

2. Questions to Consider
1. What are the goals of our research?
2. What is the basis of our focus on
PES and Benefit Sharing?
3. Are these notions helpful in pursuing
our goals?
4. Is the notion of the Nexus something
new, enlightening, and helpful?

3. We likely care about
the environment,
resources, and
livelihoods.

4. Our goals likely
include reducing
poverty and
enhancing the care
and management of
natural resources.

5. We largely accept
that hydropower
development is
inevitable and we
endeavor to
minimize impacts.

6. We have been
guided to consider
PES and BSM in
this context.

7. Yet the prospect for
success is not fully
clear or guaranteed.

8. The conceptual
framework is partly
sound and the
evidence, to date, is
mixed.

9. There is an inherent
disconnect between the
buyers and the sellers...
and the public.

10. We have learned quite a
bit about resource
management in
communal settings.

11. We know also that for
every plan or
strategy, there will be a
response that might or
might not be expected.

12. The notion of a
nexus has been
with us for some
time.

13. Effective solutions
often rely on basic
relationships.

14. Summing up
Are we certain we are asking the
appropriate research questions.
Should we be keeping a closer eye on
established wisdom and experience.
Does the notion of a nexus involving
food, energy, and water add value to
our conceptual understanding or to
policy design and implementation.

15. Successful answers
to these questions
might determine a
future Nobel laureate.
In the meantime,
they might enhance
the livelihoods of
millions of deserving
households.