Multiple global crises are worsening one another to produce what many policymakers, scholars, and commentators call a “polycrisis.” This website is a hub that helps this emerging community better understand and address the intersecting crises affecting humanity.
LATEST RESOURCES
Navigating Systemic Risk in the Age of Polycrisis
In this episode, Ajay Gambhir, Director of Systemic Risk Assessment at ASRA, explores the concept of polycrisis, showing how climate change is deeply interconnected with other global challenges across social, economic, and political systems. He ...
Polycrisis — is this the sequel?
In this article, Adam Tooze revisits the concept of “polycrisis,” noting that while the term remains relevant in certain regional and institutional contexts, it appears less applicable as a descriptor of 2025 landscape. He contrasts ...
Chartbook 407: Polycrisis Revisited: Are we beyond Neoliberal Order Breakdown Syndrome?
In Chartbook 407, Adam Tooze revisits the concept of polycrisis, examining how overlapping economic, geopolitical, environmental, and social disruptions interact to amplify systemic fragility. He questions whether the world has moved beyond what he terms ...
Stress-Testing the Resilience of Critical Infrastructures Exposed to Polycrises Triggered by Emerging Risks
The article introduces a new approach to stress-testing the resilience of critical infrastructures that are exposed or potentially exposed to adverse events, polycrises, or disasters. It focuses on extreme threats (XTs) that may trigger polycrises ...
Reboot Development : The Economics of a Livable Planet
This report explores how economic growth has historically been linked to rising pollution and environmental degradation. It argues that new data and technologies now enable more informed policymaking and make it possible to decouple growth ...
The Price of Power: Navigating the Great Simplification
In this Cascade Institute Speaker Series episode, Dr. Nate Hagens, presents a compelling framework for understanding our world as a complex, energy-dependent "Superorganism" operating far from equilibrium. He analyzes potential future scenarios that humanity may ...
Public Attitudes to Responding to Global Catastrophic Risks: A New Zealand Case Study
This paper examines public opinion on the New Zealand government's potential role in planning for global catastrophic risks. Based on a representative survey, 66% of respondents supported the government developing specific plans to address catastrophic ...
Characterizing the Global Polycrisis: A Systematic Review of Recent Literature
The authors examine the concept of polycrisis, a term that has gained prominence for describing the interconnected nature of global challenges. Through a systematic review of 2,299 publications, the results indicate a common understanding of ...
It’s Time to Consider Global Catastrophic Food Failures
The authors explore how food systems face interconnected, systemic risks that could culminate in widespread disruptions, potentially triggering extreme global famine, alongside other neglected extreme risks. They introduce the term Global Catastrophic Food Failure (GCFF) ...
NEW TO POLYCRISIS.ORG
It’s Time to Consider Global Catastrophic Food Failures
The authors explore how food systems face interconnected, systemic risks that could culminate in widespread disruptions, potentially triggering extreme global famine, alongside other neglected extreme risks. They introduce the term Global Catastrophic Food Failure (GCFF) ...
Planetary Peace for Human Security: Responses to Existential Risks in the Anthropocene
In this report, the Club of Rome argues that the current peace architecture, largely shaped by a few dominant powers in the post–World War II era, is no longer fit for purpose. A post-hegemonic, pluriversal ...
Coping with Persistent Disruptive Stressors and Polycrisis: Community-Based Policy Making and Local Empowerment
The authors propose a conceptual framework for governing polycrisis and systemic risks through a bottom-up, community-based approach. They introduce the “risk governance triangle”, linking persistent disruptive stressors, risk-absorbing systems, and contextual modifiers, and structure these ...
Try our guided tour of essential themes in the polycrisis discussion and key texts in the Polycrisis Resource Library.
This map charts the emerging community of scholars and practitioners working on polycrisis and closely related topics.