In this in-depth conversation, Masuma Farooki—development economist and Scientific Committee Member of WRF25—shares her insights on the Nexus approach to resource governance. From exposing uncomfortable trade-offs to enabling informed, data-driven decisions, Masuma reflects on how this approach can reshape policymaking, financial risk assessment, and multilateral cooperation. We explore challenges like geopolitical instability, fairness in transitions, and sectoral silos, as well as opportunities for systemic resilience, shared investments, and better communication between researchers and decision-makers.
Masuma, thank you for joining us. Let me start with the big picture. You’ve been advocating for a Nexus approach in resource governance. For those unfamiliar with the term, what is a Nexus approach, and how does it help address complex natural resource challenges?
Masuma Farooki: I like to think of the Nexus approach as expanding the boundaries of how we define and make decisions. Often, in sectors like mining, we consider water or ecosystems as externalities. Water is something we use, dispose of, and then worry about under the ESG category only. But the Nexus approach tells us to bring everything—water, food, energy, ecosystems—inside the decision-making boundary. If you’re going to make responsible choices about water use, you need the best information available, and that includes variables beyond your immediate sector. It’s about ensuring nothing is treated as an additional consideration, but rather as part of an integrated whole.
I like to think of the Nexus approach as expanding the boundaries of how we define and make decisions.
So the Nexus lens isn’t just for ex-post analysis. It should come in from the start?
Absolutely. Let me give you an example. Green hydrogen is being promoted as a clean energy solution, and many projects are being planned across Africa. But it’s extremely water-intensive. If you’re pushing these projects in countries already facing severe water scarcity, you’ve essentially traded one problem for another. Nexus thinking forces you to ask: where is this water coming from? Who’s losing access to it? Are they being compensated? These are questions that need to be asked before any investments are considered.
That’s a compelling example. So it’s about shifting the perspective—from focusing on a sector, to focusing on the resources themselves and their competing uses?
Exactly. We often evaluate projects based on labor costs, capital, infrastructure. But nobody asks, “What’s the cost of water?” We don’t treat it as a factor of production, but it is. Once you do, you start seeing where water might be better used—maybe in agriculture where it creates more employment, for instance. That’s how trade-offs come into the picture.
That leads perfectly into my next question. Resource governance today is increasingly about managing trade-offs—economic growth versus environmental protection, or supply security versus fairness. Can the Nexus approach help us navigate these tensions?
The short answer is yes, but only if we’re honest about what trade-offs really mean. Too often we sugarcoat them —suggesting that creating grievance and compensation mechanisms is a job well done. But trade-offs are uncomfortable. People’s livelihoods are at risk. Look at the energy transition, away from coal fired power plants. A 50-year-old worker at such a plant cannot be retrained easily, and many will face economic hardships as a result of the plant being closed. If we don’t acknowledge that pain, resistance amongst people and communities builds up. The Nexus approach helps expose these trade-offs clearly, and forces us to face their consequences head-on.
Trade-offs are uncomfortable. People's livelihoods are at risk. Too often we sugarcoat them.
What should policymakers do when these trade-offs create winners and losers? How do we ensure fairness?
That’s where co-development comes in. Instead of just consulting communities, we need to make them part of the operational decision-making process. Not just indigenous groups in remote areas, but also local municipalities, regional governments—anyone who truly understands the context. Fairness can’t be imposed from the top down. You need a bottom-up structure that captures both context and legacy. Only then does fairness start to emerge organically.
Today’s geopolitical climate isn’t exactly helping either. Policy debates often feel driven more by emotion than by evidence. How can researchers keep decision-makers grounded in facts?
First, we need to stop overreacting. Geopolitical divides aren’t new. What matters now is data—good, verifiable, relevant data. AI and digital tools help us gather and interpret vast datasets, but they can also generate misinformation if we’re not careful. As researchers, we also have to communicate our data and analysis better. A tweet gets more traction than a 7,000-word article. We must learn to connect with people who don’t sit in our academic bubbles.
We need to stop overreacting. Geopolitical divides aren't new. What matters now is data - good, verifiable, relevant data.
That brings us to multilateral governance. In a world increasingly focused on national self-interest, does the multilateral system still have a role?
It must. But it also needs reform. Many of our current institutions were designed post-World War II, to address the state of the world at that point in time. The world has changed. The Global South has changed. This is a great opportunity to question whether current structures are fit for purpose. The UN system should stay, but we must make it more inclusive, more representative, and more aligned with today’s realities.
Earlier you gave powerful examples from the policy world. But what about finance? Can the Nexus approach apply to financial decisions as well?
To be successful, financial systems have to adapt to new realities of uncertainty. Finance runs on investors seeking certainty. Climate change, social unrest, and geopolitical shifts create uncertainty. A Nexus approach can help investors lessen the uncertainty in their investment calculations, when they expand the scope of the factors in their analysis. Over time, data helps markets adapt. With an expanded universe of investment considerations (including climate change impacts) sustainability will stop being a niche—it will simply become part of how risk is calculated. Pension funds already consider climate risk because they invest in long-term assets. Insurance companies are adjusting to new patterns of fires and floods. Eventually, what we now call ‘sustainable finance’ will just be finance.
Eventually, what we now call 'sustainable finance' will just be finance.
And when it comes to real-world sectoral practices—say, at WRF25, where we bring together experts from the built environment, extractives, and consumer goods—how can different sectors learn from each other?
In Nexus thinking, we talk about cascading risks—but also cascading opportunities. One sector’s waste could be another’s input. A mining company’s waste rock might be building material for the construction sector. Shared investments in infrastructure or water systems could benefit agriculture and energy generation. We haven’t spoken about how the concept of resilience varies across sectors. These conversations are overdue. Let’s bring stakeholders together to explore shared inputs, processes, and outcomes.
Lastly, what’s your message to researchers and practitioners who want their work to have a real impact?
Stay grounded. Don’t lose sight of your original mission, but also don’t hide in your bubble. Learn to disagree respectfully, listen actively, and communicate clearly. We can’t change the world overnight, but we can produce good research, get it out there, and engage with those who think differently. That’s how we make a difference—even in uncertain times.
Dr. Masuma Farooki
Dr. Masuma Farooki is a Pakistani development economist specializing in developing industrial policies & strategies with a focus on sustainability, value-chain participation, and natural resource management. She leverages a nexus approach to understand the interconnectedness of economic sectors with social & environmental targets. Her work involves analysis of global value chains, industrial, trade and mineral policies in Europe and Africa. Her cross-disciplinary research focus includes economic, political and legal risk identification and assessment, expertise in ESG indicators and their measurement, value chain analysis, and investment and trade policies. She has worked with a range of stakeholders including exploration and mining companies, investors, policy makers, development institutions and civil society organisations. Masuma holds a PhD in Development Policy (The Open University, UK), an MPhil in Development Studies (Institute of Development Studies, Sussex), and an MPhil in Economics (GCU, Pakistan).
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