The authors examine the layering and succession of social and environmental crises—including a catastrophic typhoon, the COVID-19 pandemic, and economic inflation—and their impacts on food security in Capiz, Philippines. The authors investigate how these crises manifest in poor coastal communities and how vulnerable populations navigate such challenges.
The authors propose a new interdisciplinary research agenda to address the challenges that earth system tipping points pose for global governance. They argue that current institutions and policy tools are inadequate for managing the rapid, non-linear, and potentially irreversible nature of tipping processes. The paper seeks to develop a governance framework specifically suited to the
Governance for Earth System Tipping Points – A Research Agenda Read More »
Global Tipping Points is a report, led by the University of Exeter’s Global Systems Institute and funded by the Bezos Earth Fund, that identifies negative and positive tipping points with regards to ongoing global crises. According to the report, the existence of negative tipping points shows that the threats posed by the current crises we
Global Tipping Points Report 2023 Read More »
In this publication, the Accelerator for Systemic Risk Assessment presents the Principles for Systemic Risk Assessment and Response. Co-developed with a diverse network of experts, these principles aim to redefine our understanding of risk, accelerate awareness of the interconnected threats we face, and guide transformative action to safeguard Earth’s ecological systems and human well-being from
Principles for Systemic Risk Assessment and Response Read More »
The authors translate polycrisis from a loose concept into a research agenda by providing the concept with a substantive definition, highlighting its value-added in comparison to related concepts, and developing a theoretical framework to explain the causal mechanisms currently entangling many of the world’s crises. In this framework, a global crisis arises when one or
Global Polycrisis: The Causal Mechanisms of Crisis Entanglement Read More »
This 19th edition of the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Risk Report is based on a risk perception survey conducted with nearly 1500 experts from academia, government, business, and civil society. Chapter 1 focuses on three risks that have grown of increasing concern over the next two years: false information, interstate violent conflict, and economic
Global Risks Report 2024 Read More »
In this article, the authors, inspired by the polycrisis, identify and explore potential 14 traps affecting humanity in the global human context, brought about by the trajectory of our increasing complexity and influence on the Earth system. These traps are then categorized as global, technological, or structural traps and then further assessed to produce statistical
Evolution of the Polycrisis: Anthropocene Traps that Challenge Global Sustainability Read More »
In this chapter, the author examines the ongoing unsustainability crisis, connecting various dimensions of sustainability while linking planetary health with inequality and cooperation. Environmental crises such as climate change, ecosystem degradation, and biodiversity loss are shown to significantly degrade human health. The widening gap in both domestic and global inequality over the past four decades
Predicament: Our Intertwined Crises. In: Toward Social-Ecological Well-Being Read More »
The authors present an updated analysis of the planetary boundaries framework, revealing that human activities have pushed Earth beyond six of the nine critical environmental thresholds that define a safe operating space for humanity. These transgressed boundaries include climate change, biosphere integrity, land-system change, freshwater use, biogeochemical flows, and novel entities. The study emphasizes that
Earth Beyond Six of Nine Planetary Boundaries Read More »
Paul Gilding argues that the world has reached “a multi-system tipping point” that will bring “the Great Disruption”: “a destabilisation of the global climate system at a scale that is so chaotic, unpredictable and costly, it will trigger cascading disruptive change in the global economy, national politics, investment markets and geopolitical security.” Gilding predicts that
The Great Disruption has Begun Read More »
