Under the sustainable development goals: A research on the coupling coordination relationship of water- energy- food globally

Under the backdrop of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the research on the coupling coordination relationship of water-energy-food (WEF), as an essential factor for human survival and development, has become a focal point. In this paper, through the understanding of SDG 2 (food), SDG 6 (water) and SDG 7 (energy), an indicator system is established, and entropy weighting, hierarchical analysis, coupling coordination degree model and exploratory spatio-temporal data analysis are adopted to analyze the coupling coordination degree (CCD) of WEF in 112 countries worldwide from 2000 to 2021 in a spatio-temporal manner. The relevant results show that: (1) The global water, energy and food systems all show different degrees of increase. The energy system scores the highest and provides a central driving force for the WEF's CCD evolution. (2) The global CCD of WEF rises slowly. Countries like the United States and China are in the front of the CCD, and Afghanistan and Rwanda are lagging behind in the WEF coupling status. In high-income countries, the CCD is higher and more volatile; in lower-middle-income and low-income countries, the CCD is lower and the “latecomer advantage” is significant. From the regional perspective, the CCD from high to low are South America, Europe, Oceania, North America, Asia and Africa. (3) The CCD is highly space-dependent, maintaining a basically unchanged spatial pattern. The spatial aggregation effect of CCD is obvious, and over 90 % of nations have not experienced any changes in the spatio-temporal transfer. According to the findings, policy recommendations such as constructing a global synergistic governance framework and strengthening the multilateral cooperation mechanism are proposed, with a view to promoting the rational allocation of resources on a global scale, realizing the goal of sustainable development and the long-term development of human society.