Polycrisis Resource Library

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.

All Crises are Unhappy in Their Own Way: The Role of Societal Instability in Shaping the Past

December 29, 2025

Daniel Hoyer, Samantha Holder, James S. Bennett, Pieter Francois, Harvey Whitehouse, R. Alan Covey, Gary Feinman, Andrey Korotayev, Vadim Ustyuzhanin, Johannes Preiser-Kapeller, Kathryn Bard, Jill Levine, Jenny Reddish, Georg Orlandi, Rachel Ainsworth and Peter Turchin.

This article introduces the Crisis Database, a comprehensive resource that systematically documents 168 historical societal crises across different time periods, regions, and levels of complexity. Aiming to overcome small-sample bias…

Systemic Risk: Opportunities for Inter- and Transdisciplinary Science to Improve Societal Resilience

December 25, 2025

Jana Sillmann, Alessio Ciullo, Christian L.E. Franzke and Jürgen Scheffran

This article introduces a focus collection on systemic risk science, arguing that systemic risks, are increasingly amplified by global warming yet remain poorly understood. It summarizes six contributing papers that…

Global Risk Forecast 2026

December 23, 2025

Crisis24

The Crisis24 Global Risk Forecast 2026 provides a strategic outlook on the evolving risk landscape heading into 2026. It identifies a global environment marked by intensifying geopolitical competition, persistent economic…

Examining the Three Existential Threats of the 21st Century: Artificial Intelligence, Climate Change, and Nuclear Weapons

December 17, 2025

Hassan Fattahi and Zahra Mohebi-Pourkani

The authors critically examine three existential threats facing humanity in the 21st century: advanced artificial intelligence, escalating climate change, and nuclear weapons. Drawing on scientific consensus and growing institutional concern,…

World of Woes: How the Global Polycrisis is Shaping Canada’s Youth

December 17, 2025

Nicole Thompson

This article explores why young Canadians are increasingly reporting feelings of despair amid what experts describe as a global polycrisis. Drawing on personal testimonies, it reflects on how a generation…

2026 Emergency Watchlist

December 16, 2025

Chatham House

The Watchlist 2026 report by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) highlights the deepening intersection of conflict, climate change, and economic instability across 20 crisis-prone countries. It warns of a dangerous…

Risk Outlook 2026

December 15, 2025

Irene Lai, Cvete Koneska and James Wood

The 2026 Risk Outlook examines the rapidly evolving global risk environment, where threats are accelerating, overlapping, and placing new pressures on organisational resilience. Drawn from interviews with 860 senior risk…

Cross Currents Conversation Series

December 10, 2025

Accelerator for Systemic Risk Assessment (ASRA)

The Cross Current series explores the dynamics, disruptions, and discoveries shaping our world. Experts from diverse disciplines engage in cross-sector conversations to deepen understanding of the interconnected risks driving today’s…

Navigating Collapse Together: Toward Regenerative Public Life

December 9, 2025

Nicole Negowetti

In this essay, Nicole Negowetti reflects on what becomes possible when collapse is understood not only as crisis but as a collective passage. She contrasts dominant responses, rooted in worldviews…

Global Environment Outlook 7: A Future We Choose

December 9, 2025

Tamiru A. Abiye, Ana Paula Aguiar, Peter Alexander, Barbara Amon, Apoorva Arya, Ghassem Asrar,Lindsay Beevers, Medani Bhandari, Meena Bohara, Gillian Bowser, David C. Broadstock, Monday Businge,Donovan Campbell, Kateřina Černý Pixová, Lynette Cheah, Leila Dagher, Vassilis Daioglou, JonathanDavies, Mark Elder, Parfait M. Eloundou-Enyegue, Pierre Failler, Pedro Fidelman, Shinichiro Fujimori,Erica Brown Gaddis, Keisha Garcia, Elisabeth Gilmore, Sarah Green, Andres Guhl, Stephan Harrison,Gladys Cecilia Hernandez-Pedraza, Susie Ho, Min Hu, Madhav Bahadur Karki, Monica Kerretts-Makau,Indu K. Murthy, Mulako Kabisa, Mizanur Khan, Andrei Kirilenko, Kyung-Ah Koo, Jyotsna Krishnakumar,Joanna Kulczycka, Debora Ley, David Lopez-Carr, Paul Lucas, Clever Mafuta, Diego Martino, Sarah-LanMathez-Stiefel, Karina Miglioranza, Ruben Mnatsakanian, Rachid Mrabet, Kevin Nnanye Nwaigwe, AliceOdingo, S. Nadia Ouedraogo, Jacob Park, Jan Plesnik, Riya Rahiman, Adina Manuela Relicovschi,Henri Rueff, Aibek Samakov, Tek Sapkota, Heinz Schandl, Patrick Schröder, Jeff Seadon, Binaya RajShivakoti, George Florin Staicu, Paul Sutton, Gail Taylor, Audrone Telesiene, Catalina Turcu, BrunoTurnheim, Detlef van Vuuren, Sotiris Vardoulakis, Karen Helen Wiltshire, Xiyan Xu, Fang Yu, Pandi Zdruli, and Eric Zusman

The Global Environment Outlook presents a scientific assessment of the state of the global environment. It finds that climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, desertification, and pollution and waste are…

About the Resource Library

The Polycrisis Resource Library includes resources that:

  • Comment on the polycrisis as a concept and as a present global reality
  • Undertake similar analysis using different—but related—concepts
  • Analyze crisis interactions among multiple global systems

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.

Scroll to Top