The Polycrisis Resource Library is a growing collection of media that help to understand polycrisis, develop strategies to address polycrisis, and build a field of polycrisis analysis.
The European Climate Risk Assessment identifies 36 major climate risks threatening Europe’s energy and food security, ecosystems, infrastructure, water resources, financial stability, and public health. The report emphasizes that many…
In this video, Dr. Sabrina Fernandes discusses how to rethink the Polycrisis from an internationalist Global South perspective and how it relates to transition and climate justice. Fernandes begins by…
The authors argue that the current body of research into societal crises—defined here as “periods of turmoil and destabilization in socio-cultural, political, economic, and other systems, often accompanied by varying…
The authors examine domestic policymaking processes amidst polycrisis by tracing the Canadian government’s development of its Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) during the Covid-19 pandemic. They argue that the process…
This article offers an ‘institutionally pluralist’ view proposing different kinds of institutions for five different spheres of economic life. It argues that economic policy should be seen as a process…
The GAR 2024 report examines current and emerging trends through forensic analysis of ten recent disasters, identifying key drivers of vulnerability such as poverty, inequality, unplanned urbanization, and weak enforcement…
The authors explore the challenges decision makers face to address the impact of polycrisis on essential operational functions such as risk management and strategic planning. They offer insights and tools…
This study examines the dynamics of societal collapse based on Joseph Tainter’s theory of the “collapse of complex societies.” It explores how rising societal complexity influences productivity and the likelihood…
This commentary introduces “Polycrisis in the Anthropocene,” a special issue of Global Sustainability journal. It elaborates upon three major contributions of the issue’s lead article, “Global Polycrisis: The Causal Mechanisms…
The Polycrisis Resource Library includes resources that:
Though not exhaustive, the Library strives to present a diverse representation of views on different aspects of the polycrisis discussion, and will be updated as that discussion evolves. Search for resources with the keyword search bar, or by using the drop-down menus to filter for type of resource, global systems addressed, and key themes.
‘Pre-Polycrisis’ Hazard Mitigation
Nick King
Nick King argues that industrial civilization has created many persistent and severe hazards (such as nuclear waste, methane leaking hydrocarbon infrastructure, contaminated sites, landfills, and deforested land), polycrises in the…