Extreme weather cost $2tn globally over past decade, report finds
by Ajit Niranjan in The Guardian…US suffered greatest economic losses, report commissioned by International Chamber of Commerce finds, followed by China and India
The Commune Form: The Transformation of Everyday Life
A leading radical historian looks at the global resurgence of the commune and asks how they can become sites of liberationWhen the state recedes, the commune-form flourishes. This was as true in Paris in 1871 as it is now whenever ordinary people...
Risks on the horizon: Insights for a resilient future
by the Joint Research Centre of European Commission in the EU Policy Lab…In a world where the only constant is change, policymakers are faced with an accelerating pace of global shifts, uncertainty and unforeseen events that make long-term planning impossible.
Global catastrophic risk assessment
by Henry H. Willis, et al, in RAND….The risk management practices needed to address the sorts of risks covered in this report improve understanding of the risks, prevent the occurrence of the hazard or threat, or reduce the consequences of the event if it occurs.
Mike Davis, California’s ‘prophet of doom’, on activism in a dying world: ‘Despair is useless’
by Lois Beckett in The Guardian…lHis warnings of ecological and social breakdown have proved accurate. But with months to live, Davis is anything but defeated
The forces of chance
by Brian Klaas in aeon…Social scientists cling to simple models of reality – with disastrous results. Instead they must embrace chaos theory
A philanthropic theory of systems transformation for advancing equity in the polycrisis
by Michael Quinn Patton & Ruth Richardson in The Foundation Review…Intervening to mitigate and reverse the effects of the polycrisis challenges change agents, program designers, foundations, and evaluators to move beyond traditional
project-level thinking and autonomous foundation grantmaking to engage in
collaborative, principles-driven systems transformation.
The 2024 state of the climate report: Perilous times on planet Earth
by William J Ripple, et al. in BioScience…The surge in yearly climate disasters shows we are in a major crisis with worse to come if we continue with business as usual. Today, more than ever, our actions matter for the stable climate system that has supported us for thousands of years. Humanity’s future depends on our creativity, moral fiber, and perseverance.
Chartbook 330: Africa & absolute poverty in an era of polycrisis.
by Adam Tooze in Chartbook….Since 2015, the push to raise the world’s population out of the direst deprivation, has stagnated. As the World Bank authors acknowledge, we are “facing a lost decade in the fight against global poverty”.
Malaria Is Surging in Ethiopia, Reversing a Decade of Progress Against the Disease
by Maya Misikir and Stephanie Nolen in The New York Times…Climate change, civil conflict and growing resistance to insecticides and treatments are all contributing to an alarming spread of cases.
Resilience revisited 06: Roman Krznaric: Harnessing history to shape philanthropic futures and build collective resilience
by Tamzin Ractliffe on LinkedIn…Krznaric emphasises the importance of long-term thinking and creating compelling visions for the future that enhance collective resilience. He encourages us to be “good ancestors” by considering the impact of our actions on future generations to support the building of societal structures that can withstand and adapt to future challenges.
Open letter by climate scientists to the Nordic Council of Ministers
by Climate Scientists….Many further impacts are likely to be felt globally, including a shift in tropical rainfall belts, reduced
oceanic carbon dioxide uptake (and thus faster atmospheric increase) as well as major additional sea-level rise particularly along the American Atlantic coast, and an upheaval of marine ecosystems and fisheries
Derailment risk: A systems analysis that identifies risks which could derail the sustainability transition
by Laurie Laybourn, et al. in Earth Systems Dynamics…How will the effects of climate change, nature loss, and other environmental change impact our ability to tackle the causes of these problems? There is already a high demand on resources to respond to worsening climate shocks, knock-on impacts for areas such as food production and health, and the many other growing consequences of changes to the Earth system (Pörtner et al., 2022). These impacts are expected to increase in a warmer future, placing ever greater demands on our attention and resources as we respond to worsening conditions and larger crises.
Cli-Fi—helping us manage a crisis
by Howard Frumkin in the British Medical Journal…Cli-fi may be important for our patients as they come to grips with the looming climate crisis—a hyper-object too vast to grasp, a threat too frightening to confront directly, a challenge that can feel paralysing. Indeed, health professionals may find cli-fi helpful in the same way. Cli-fi may function in at least three relevant domains: cognitive, emotional, and behavioural.
The disturbing power of information pollution
by Michael P. Lynch in MIT Press…When we’re lulled into giving up on truth, we give up on critical thought — even dissent itself.
The Regeneration Handbook: System-changing strategies
by Don Hall in Resilience.org…Many Transition Initiatives, from Fujino, Japan, to London, England, have started their own community-owned renewable energy companies.