This OECD Environmental Outlook examines the interlocking trends and drivers of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, projects how they will evolve through mid-century, and analyzes policy synergies and trade-offs. It also provides a roadmap to help governments address these challenges in a more integrated manner.
Environmental Outlook on the Triple Planetary Crisis Read More »
The authors reflect on the decade since the 2015 Paris Agreement and conclude that humanity has failed to avert dangerous climate change, with global warming set to exceed 1.5°C and enter an overshoot phase within years. This escalation increases the frequency and severity of extreme events and risks triggering tipping points in major Earth systems
The World Lost the Climate Gamble. Now it Faces a Dangerous New Reality Read More »
The authors examine the concept of synergy and its applications in the polycrisis context. They present an integrative review of 14 disciplines and identify three key attributes of synergy: its magnitudes, spatial and temporal scales, and the possibility for both positive and negative synergy. The review also outlines three conceptual understandings: synergy as outcome, synergy
Synergies: Understandings in a Complex World Read More »
This article features an interview by Antoine Le Bec with researcher Louis Delannoy from the Stockholm Resilience Centre about the concept of polycrisis and its growing relevance for understanding an increasingly unstable world. Delannoy defines polycrisis as the convergence and amplification of multiple crises that increasingly reinforce one another rather than diminish. He emphasizes that
Understanding and Measuring Polycrisis Read More »
In this article, Thomas L. Friedman draws on the concept of the “Polycene”, a new epoch characterized by the convergence of multiple accelerating forces, including artificial intelligence, climate change, geopolitical realignment, and social transformation. Friedman argues that humanity has moved beyond the binary frameworks that structured the Cold War and post–Cold War eras into a
We’re In a New Everything-Is-Connected Epoch. But What to Call It? Read More »
In this conversation, Thomas Homer-Dixon introduces the Cascade Institute’s Polycrisis Core Model (PCM), a novel framework designed to map and analyse interactions among 11 critical global systems, each with multiple potential future states. The model employs cross-impact balance (CIB) analysis to evaluate over four million internally consistent scenarios, ultimately identifying 11 distinct “attractor” states. These
Mapping the Hope Attractor: A Conversation with Thomas- Homer Dixon Read More »
In this webinar, hosted by the World Academy of Art and Science and its EXTRA initiative, experts explored the interconnected nature of global crises and the systemic risks emerging from complex, cascading interactions across ecological, social, and technological systems. Topics included food system vulnerabilities, equity-centered governance, resilience dividends and positive externalities, and the modeling of
Coping with Polycrisis and Systemic Risks: New Approaches to Assessment and Governance Read More »
The author examines how the polycrisis is reshaping consumer behaviour and the food industry. Amid inflation, climate-driven crop failures, and global supply chain disruptions, a new type of consumer has emerged: the Polycrisis Shopper. These shoppers are hyperaware, price-sensitive, and pragmatic, abandoning brand loyalty in favour of value, transparency, and sustainability. They balance stockpiling with
Savvy, Skeptical ‘Polycrisis Shoppers’ Are Browsing Your Aisles – Here’s What to Do Read More »
The report AI for a Planet Under Pressure examines the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to address the contemporary polycrisis by supporting research and decision-making across interconnected sustainability challenges. Synthesizing expert assessments and AI-supported analysis of over 8,500 publications, it evaluates AI’s role across eight critical domains: systemic shocks, Earth system dynamics, ocean stewardship, freshwater
AI for a Planet Under Pressure Read More »
The authors underscore the urgent need to address the interconnected threats of climate change, conflict, and health. They highlight how these threats not only cause direct harm, such as heat-related deaths and conflict-driven mortality, but also compound vulnerabilities by damaging health systems, disrupting essential services, and fueling cycles of instability. Fragile and conflict-affected states are
Tackling the Complex Links Between Climate Change, Conflict, and Health Read More »
