The Polycrisis Needs a Sustainability- and Resilience-Oriented Paradigm Shift Through Innovation

This article examines the polycrisis as a framework for understanding and governing interconnected risks across social, ecological, economic, and political systems. Using a comparative analysis of the European Union and China, the authors explore how different approaches to transition governance can support sustainability under conditions of overlapping crises and systemic uncertainty. The article identifies four leverage points for more crisis-resilient transitions: adaptive policy mixes that maintain long-term decarbonization goals during short-term shocks, distributional buffering and reskilling policies that protect legitimacy and policy durability, risk-aware governance of value chains and critical materials to reduce externalized vulnerabilities, and integrated land-use and ecosystem planning. The article concludes by outlining actionable implications for learning-oriented and justice-aware governance capable of supporting sustainable transitions under conditions of polycrisis.