Planet in Polycrisis

In this episode, Thomas Homer-Dixon, Executive Director of the Cascade Institute, and Manjana Milkoreit, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo, explore the growing risks of global polycrisis. Through the lens of complexity science, Homer-Dixon explains how tightly coupled human and Earth systems are increasingly vulnerable to self-amplifying cascades—interlinked crises driven by energy use, environmental degradation, and climate change. He highlights the importance of recognizing systemic tipping points and the concept of hysteresis, which reflects the irreversibility of certain system changes. Milkoreit discusses the findings of the 2023 Global Tipping Points Report, which identifies 25 critical Earth system tipping elements, five of which may already be near or beyond key thresholds. The episode underscores the urgent need for transformational change to prevent cascading ecological and societal breakdowns.