Human Cognition and the Anthropocene
This report examines how Anthropocene conditions shape the brain and mind, while human cognition and social processes, in turn, drive and sustain global change.
Human Cognition and the Anthropocene Read More »
Learning resource
Planetary Health Check 2025: A Scientific Assessment of the State of the Planet
The Planetary Health Check report provides an assessment of the state of our planet. The report is based on the Planetary Boundaries -the nine processes that are known to regulate the stability, resilience and life-support unctions of our planet. The report concludes that seven out of nine Planetary Boundaries have been breached: Climate Change, Change
Planetary Health Check 2025: A Scientific Assessment of the State of the Planet Read More »
Environmental Outlook on the Triple Planetary Crisis
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 World Lost the Climate Gamble. Now it Faces a Dangerous New Reality
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 »
Highlights from the Extreme Heat and Agriculture Report
This report explores the impact of extreme heat on agricultural producers and on crops, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, and forests worldwide. Drawing on recent scientific evidence and country case studies, it highlights the independent and compound risks posed by extreme heat, underscores the urgency of mitigation, and presents pathways to strengthen resilience and sustainability across
Highlights from the Extreme Heat and Agriculture Report Read More »
Synergies: Understandings in a Complex World
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 »
Understanding and Measuring Polycrisis
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 »
We’re In a New Everything-Is-Connected Epoch. But What to Call It?
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 »
Mapping the Hope Attractor: A Conversation with Thomas- Homer Dixon
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 »
Coping with Polycrisis and Systemic Risks: New Approaches to Assessment and Governance
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 »