The theme of World Space Week 2025 “Living in space” reflects humanity's outward search for resources to sustain our existence. The theme resonates far beyond the frontiers of outer space, however. The conversation highlights a more urgent challenge here on Earth: securing the fundamental resources on which life depends — water, energy and food. These pressures are intensifying under climate change; underscoring the immediate necessity of smarter, more sustainable ways to manage resources and mitigate the impacts of human-exacerbated disasters.

In the long term, efforts to boost the supply of a resource may come at the expense of another, such as increased agricultural productivity reducing potable water supplies, or agriculture and solar energy both vying for limited flat, open land across regions. Acute manifestations of these trade-offs are revealed when disasters such as droughts reduce agricultural yields, limit energy generation and threaten public water supply. The trade-offs within the water–energy–food nexus are particularly stark in Central Asia, where agriculture consumes over 90 per cent of fresh surface water. Therefore, countries in the region must expedite efforts to manage this nexus in a holistic and effective manner. 

Geospatial applications offer a way forward not only in identifying and mitigating trade-offs but also improving the resilience of the water-food-energy nexus against disaster risks and climate change. In comparison to traditional approaches, modern geospatial tools enable synergies, delivering benefits across sectors simultaneously. Countries in Asia are utilizing geospatial applications to strengthen their resilience to climate and disaster risks and enable more efficient resource use. The increasing accessibility and affordability of tools derived from geospatial applications has enabled nations to gather multiple-sourced satellite-derived data over broader areas. Approaching the nexus from the geospatial lens allows insight into the various advancements in the sector.

Focusing on applications for water resource monitoring, Central Asian nations use geospatial applications to enable proactive monitoring of glaciers, which contribute to more than 60 per cent of Central Asia's fresh water supply. Freely available high-resolution data and regional cooperation improve water runoff forecasting capabilities where ground-based observations are limited. These advances allow authorities to conduct better-informed downstream irrigation allocation and hydropower operations (which is critical for some countries in the region that rely on hydropower for over 85 per cent of electricity generation). Additionally, monitoring of high-altitude regions, using high-resolution imagery, enables advanced response to impending glacial lake outburst floods in vulnerable nations such as Kyrgyzstan. 

Managing energy demand can be improved through further geospatial advancements in the Asia-Pacific region, which consumes more than half of the world's energy. Due to rapid population growth and increasing climate pressures, securing this supply is critical. Geospatial practices guide smarter planning of energy resources. In India for example, satellite mapping is being used for multi-criteria solar site-selection by combining radiation data with terrain layers to assess expected yield and constraints of a site. Similarly, Thailand is utilizing urban digital twin technology to evaluate solar power generation potential using 3D building data. Remote sensing data and spaceborne aperture radars are utilized in Tajikistan’s rural electrification project to inform the design of micro-grids in high-altitude, remote areas. In these areas, securing sustainable energy supply is critical for enabling prosperity across the water-food-energy nexus and ensuring remote communities are not left behind.

Food production, the largest consumer of freshwater globally, is another focus of geospatial innovation. Across Asia, countries are using satellite-derived agrometeorological information to enable precision agriculture practices. The results of this are improvements in yield forecasting in China, methane emission tracking in Japan and plot-productivity estimates in the Russian Federation. Geospatial advances support the expansion of the region’s rapidly growing agritech sector and strengthen synergies across the nexus.

The best time for scaling up these innovations is now. Countries are continually innovating in the geospatial sector, supporting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. These developments are collated in The Geospatial Good Practices Database and Dashboard. Through this platform, best practices are shared to foster further collaboration. 

Decisive action to scale up best practices across the region will unlock new opportunities for stakeholders to manage the water-energy-food nexus dynamics sustainably. By leveraging resource synergies through geospatial applications, we equip ourselves with tools to better sustain life on Earth and ensure that living in space remains plan B.