Transformations to sustainability and justice have recently encountered backlash and political polarization, violent conflict, democratic backsliding, and dehumanization. In this article, we describe three archetypes of backlash that may affect whether and how transformations unfold. We then explore the role of harnessing hope and imagination, hospicing with dignity, and enabling radical collaboration while holding paradox as three capacities that may prove helpful to navigating backlash during transformative change efforts.

Recognizing backlash as a dynamic of transformations that is distinct from the forms of counter-resistance or contentious politics that have previously been documented as crucial in transformations, we focus on three backlash archetypes and the potential for derailment of transformations to sustainability and justice. Focusing on the specific transformation phase of ‘in-betweenness’ when systems are in flux and the risk of backlash and derailment is high, we suggest there is a need for capacities that help create provisional spaces to grapple with the range of emotional, relational, and political issues underpinning backlash. We explore the role of three transformative capacities for their relevance in addressing backlash and derailment based on existing evidence: harnessing hope and imagination, hospicing with dignity, and enabling radical collaboration while holding paradox.

Societal transformations involve backlash and derailment risks – three archetypes and key capacities to navigate them.

Energy communities allow people to produce, share, and manage renewable energy together, helping reduce carbon emissions and decentralize the energy system. Their success, however, depends on whether citizens are willing to participate. This study explores what drives people to engage in these communities, especially the influence of positive emotions and the feeling of empowerment. By surveying Portuguese citizens, the research shows that joy and empowerment significantly increase interest and participation in energy communities. These insights can help policymakers and practitioners create more engaging and citizen-centred sustainable initiatives.

Energy communities play a key role in advancing decentralized and low-carbon energy systems by placing citizens at the centre of energy production and management. Yet, their effective implementation depends on citizens’ willingness to engage. This study examines the determinants of citizens’ behavioural intention to participate in energy communities, with particular emphasis on hedonic motivations and empowerment. To do so, a conceptual model integrating the Hedonic-Motivation System Adoption Model (HMSAM) and empowerment theory was developed. Data were collected through an online survey administered to Portuguese citizens, yielding 307 valid responses. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the proposed relationships. The results show that empowerment significantly moderates the effect of joy on behavioural intention, strengthening both the intention to participate and overall engagement in energy communities. These findings highlight the importance of positive emotional experiences and perceived control in motivating sustainable behaviours. The study provides practical guidance for policymakers and practitioners seeking to enhance citizen engagement, suggesting that fostering empowering and emotionally rewarding experiences can support the development and successful uptake of energy communities.

Empowerment and joy boost citizen engagement in renewable energy communities.

How the media talks about climate issues shapes public understanding of these issues. This article explores the news media debate about aviation and climate change in the US between 2016 and 2020. It finds that news coverage focused mostly on industry-led solutions, such as new technology and carbon offsetting. By contrast, reducing demand for flying was given little attention, despite the importance of demand-side action in meeting climate goals for aviation. The study highlights the need for more balanced coverage that includes demand-side perspectives to help shift high-carbon norms alongside technological developments.

Media has played an important role in bringing attention to aviation's climate impact during the past decade. To understand how the media might impact public concern around this issue, it is important to study how it is framed in public discourse. Using topic modeling and network analysis, we investigate the news media debate about aviation and climate change in the US from 2016 to 2020. Based on a sample of 898 news articles collected from the All the News 2.0 dataset, we identify four frames: Technology and economy, Policy and regulation, Lifestyle and youth activism, and Disruptive protest. The dominant frame (Technology and economy) appeared in outlets of all political orientations and aligned with industry perspectives, reinforcing mainstream ideas about aviation's societal importance and emphasizing technology-focused mitigation strategies that reproduce business as usual. While actors such as Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion were central in elevating alternative frames highlighting the importance of demand reductions, such frames remained relatively marginal. By demonstrating how dominant media frames around aviation and climate change divert attention from demand management, the paper highlights the need for more balanced media coverage that incorporates such perspectives alongside industry-led approaches to support meaningful climate action.

US news media downplays cutting air travel demand, favoring industry-led solutions that legitimize aviation growth.

This study explores methods of recovering critical raw materials (CRMs) for recycling in the semiconductor industry. Sustainability reports of global semiconductor manufacturers are reviewed along with the literature regarding methods for recovering CRMs for recycling. Additionally, a case study is conducted to analyse potential impacts of material recovery on the carbon footprint and raw material criticality indicators. The results show that methods of recovering CRMs for recycling are not yet widely implemented in the industry, though they have potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve resilience in the supply chains of the semiconductor industry.

Climate and environmental crises push the semiconductor industry to reduce its environmental impacts. Simultaneously, the industry aims to mitigate risks related to the supply of CRMs. The circular economy has the potential to address both issues by promoting material efficiency. This study applies a scoping review to assess CRM recovery methods, their industrial implementation, and alignment with the circularity goals of semiconductor manufacturers. The results show that CRM recovery is not yet common in the semiconductor industry, current recovery methods require further development, and explicit recovery targets are largely absent. Complementing the review, a case study evaluates membrane-based recycling of ceria from spent chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) slurry, assessing its carbon footprint and raw material criticality. Ceria recovery indicates a potential reduction in CMP process-related GHG emissions by approximately 27% at 90% recovery efficiency. Moreover, improved recovery and recycling reduce all studied criticality indicators: supply risk, economic importance, and material criticality. To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to assess CRM recovery in semiconductor manufacturing, combining technological, environmental, and raw material criticality perspectives. Together, the findings highlight CRM recovery as a critical yet underutilized means for advancing circularity and reducing dependence on virgin materials in the semiconductor industry.

Recovery of CRMs in the semiconductor industry and its impacts on carbon footprint and raw material criticality.

Accelerating transformation to net-zero emissions will limit global warming and the widespread and inequitable harms it causes, alongside bringing other benefits, but new harms may also be created. Recently, it has been argued that accelerating transformation is unjust, particularly because of concerns about critical mineral mining, including for electric vehicles (EVs). However, this ignores the unjust harms from climate change that accelerating transformation alleviates. Here I argue that a faster transition is a more just one, because the harms it avoids – both globally and for the least advantaged people – far outweigh any harms it causes.

Any transformative change has losers as well as winners, hence the call for a ‘just transition’ to avoid creating new harms. Recently, accelerating transformation has been challenged on the grounds that it compromises justice. Following a climate justice framework, I argue that the justice of climate impacts avoided cannot be ignored when considering the justice of mitigation actions, as this leads to unjust outcomes – in both utilitarian and prioritarian theories of justice. Taking, as a case study, EV adoption and its association with artisanal mining of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), I show that heat-related and air pollution-related deaths avoided globally by replacing internal combustion engine vehicles with EVs are both three orders of magnitude greater than deaths caused in artisanal mining accidents in DRC. Heat-related deaths avoided in DRC exceed artisanal mining deaths. Deaths avoided globally are mostly among the least advantaged people. More generally, accelerating transformation avoids far more harm from climate change and air pollution than any harms it creates, and maximises other benefits, including for the least advantaged people. Thus, while governance should strive to avoid deaths to artisanal miners in DRC, it should also accelerate transformation as the just thing to do.

Being anti-net zero is unjust. Slowing transition greatly increases heat-related deaths among the world’s poorest people.

This study explores how community-led initiatives known as ‘seeds’ are transforming Ghana’s food systems. These 80 diverse projects tackle challenges such as hunger, poor nutrition, climate change, and poverty. From promoting sustainable farming and fisheries to creating healthier diets and supporting local economies, the seeds show how local innovation can help achieve global goals, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By highlighting these grassroots efforts, the study shows that local actors play a crucial role in building resilient, inclusive, and sustainable food systems, and can inspire broader change by addressing real-world problems in creative and impactful ways.

Food system transformation is essential for achieving the 2030 Agenda, yet top-down policies often overlook the localized, emergent innovations occurring at the community level. This study investigates the potential of ‘seeds’ – locally embedded, small-scale, community-led initiatives – to catalyse transformative shifts towards sustainable and equitable food systems in Ghana. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected on 80 food system seeds via online searches, snowball sampling, and community engagement across 11 key study sites. We used a hybrid inductive–deductive coding framework to assign primary and related SDGs to each seed, with four researchers coding after a calibration process to ensure reliability. The seeds contributed to 15 of the 17 SDGs, with a predominant focus on SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), and SDG 1 (No Poverty). Analysis indicates that these initiatives move beyond simple project-based interventions by addressing the food–water–energy nexus through decentralized, community-driven pathways. While social and ecological dimensions are frequently prioritized, results highlight significant synergies across goals, demonstrating the capacity of localized seeds to address complex, interconnected food system challenges. This study offers a methodological template to assess the transformative potential of food system seeds, linking grassroots innovation with global sustainability goals.

A study documenting how local innovations are transforming Ghana’s food systems and helping to achieve SDGs.

Why did some early cities thrive for centuries, while others collapsed after a short time? Archaeologists and historians are trying to identify the factors responsible for early urban resilience. This knowledge may hold insights for our understanding how cities today can best adapt to the disruptions caused by climate change. I single out two current research directions: shocks and persistence. A focus on individual cities reveals the responses of cities to specific types of shock, while a consideration of the lengths of occupation of cities and settlements (persistence through time) identifies those cities most successful in the long run.

Because they offer deep temporal perspectives, the historical and archaeological records of past cities have potential to make unique contributions to the scientific understanding of urban resilience and urban adaptations to climate change today. I single out two ways that archaeologists and historians have begun to explore this potential for early cities: shocks and persistence. The responses of urban residents and institutions to diverse types of shock is a kind of specified resilience (i.e., resilience to what, who, when, and where) that can be studied for some well-documented early cities. I use the example of ancient earthquakes to discuss this theme. The temporal persistence of cities over time, on the other hand, provides insights into the general resilience of early cities by differentiating between cities that were more and less successful over the long run. I use the example of archaeological survey projects to illustrate persistence analysis, a new approach in archaeology. These two approaches build on current efforts in the fields of resilience and urban adaptations to address the importance of disturbances and deep temporal perspectives.

Archaeologists and historians can study ancient urban resilience by focusing on specific shocks and the longevity of cities.

Water is a shared global resource, yet its movement is often invisible. When a country imports products, it also imports ‘virtual water’, the water used to produce those products. While agriculture accounts for 85% of global water transfers, we have lacked a clear understanding of who is actually moving this water: large industrial farms or small-scale farmers? Our study shows that small-scale agriculture plays a disproportionately large role in global virtual water flows, compared to its volume of crop production involved in trade.

Most global virtual water flows come from agri-food sectors, describing how commodity demand in one country drives water use in others. Despite their significance, virtual water flow assessments have largely overlooked the distinct roles of small-scale versus large-scale agriculture, hindering the development of targeted water and food security policies in both producing and consuming countries. To address this gap, we estimate the contributions of small-scale and large-scale agriculture to crop production and virtual water embedded in trade (export) using detailed hybrid multiregional input–output tables spanning 55 countries. We reveal that, although small-scale agriculture accounts for only 17% of the total crop production involved in trade (in tonnes), its role in virtual water flows is disproportionately large, accounting for 22% of blue and 30% of green virtual water flows. In 13 of the 55 countries, small-scale agriculture accounts for more than 50% of green virtual water exports. Furthermore, virtual water exports from small-scale agriculture exhibit distinct spatial patterns and are driven primarily by demand for labor-intensive crops rather than animal-sourced human food and nonfood products. Our results suggest that explicitly accounting for farmers’ roles in virtual water flows is critical for the design of context-specific, effective, and equitable policy interventions.

Check out the unique role of small-scale agriculture in global crop trade and virtual water flows.

Floods repeatedly disrupt lives, livelihoods, and public services across Indonesia, while available warnings do not always lead to timely action. This article shows how rainfall forecasts can become practical early actions before flood impacts escalate. Evidence from four Indonesian regions highlights that rainfall thresholds can support earlier decisions, while stakeholder engagements reveal the procedures, coordination, and community readiness needed to act on warnings. The study demonstrates that linking forecasts with clear responsibilities and prepared local systems can reduce avoidable losses, improve disaster governance, and strengthen resilience to elevating climate-related risks.

Despite advances in weather forecasting and flood warning systems, the operational translation of early warning into anticipatory action remains limited in Indonesia. This gap constrains the effectiveness of disaster risk reduction, particularly in regions exposed to recurrent hydrometeorological hazards. To address this challenge, historical rainfall, flood occurrence, and impact records from Gresik Regency, Samarinda City, South Barito Regency, and Medan City were analyzed using Log Pearson III return-period estimation and cumulative distribution functions to identify locally relevant trigger thresholds. The results indicate that rainfall exceedance levels around the 90th, 95th, and 99th percentiles provide technically credible benchmarks for preparedness escalation and resource mobilization, with marked variation across hydroclimatic settings. Stakeholder consultations further reveal that forecasting information is increasingly available, but implementation shall be supported by standard operating procedures, systematic communication pathways, functional role clarity, and sufficient local validation mechanisms. An operational framework is proposed, which links forecast thresholds, impact monitoring, verification processes, and predefined actions. The findings provide evidence for embedding forecast-based action within decentralized disaster governance systems in Indonesia and comparable flood-prone settings of other countries.

Operationalizing warnings into action can strengthen anticipatory disaster governance.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), endorsed by national governments, rely on local actors for effective implementation. While the nonbinding nature of the SDG agreement allows for adaptability, it also leads to varying localization across contexts, impacted by existing governance arrangements. This study provides a structured analysis of existing studies, discussions, and evidence that examines how SDG localization interacts with different governance dimensions across diverse contexts. Adopting a meta-perspective, it contributes to a deeper understanding of these variations in SDG localization and informs the development of strategies to accelerate SDG progress at the local level, both leading up to and beyond 2030.

Cities and local actors have a critical role to play in implementing the SDGs, given their proximity to citizens and community-based challenges. Many regions and cities have undertaken SDG localization as a means to translate and implement global goals at the local level. However, the type and extent of SDG localization have varied a lot across contexts, and this variation is sometimes attributed to the varying governance contexts. Comprehensive studies of governance contexts and their impact on SDG localization are scarce, and the complexity of governance has led current literature to focus primarily on specific aspects – such as policies, strategic planning, or local initiatives – without providing a holistic perspective to fully explore their interconnections. This study addresses this gap by developing a conceptual framework to analyze their interactions at two levels: the intentional level, which examines images, instruments, and actions utilized by actors, and the structural level, which considers underlying conditions, enablers, or impediments. By integrating fragmented analyses and synthesizing insights in the literature, this study develops a more comprehensive understanding of how SDG localization interacts with existing governance contexts and what this means for accelerating progress on the SDGs and developing the next global agenda beyond 2030.

This research offers a structured analysis of existing studies, discussions, and evidence that examines how SDG localization interacted with existing governance contexts.

Mining activities have intensive water and energy needs that require reliable infrastructure for ongoing supply. In several jurisdictions, regulations require mining companies to clear all service infrastructure as part of closure planning. This creates significant challenges for remote communities near mine sites that often rely on company-sponsored infrastructure for essential services such as energy and water. Unreliable or unaffordable services not only impact the local quality of life but can also significantly constrain post-closure economic diversification opportunities. This uncertainty in reliable access to critical public services in mining-dependent communities has received little attention in contemporary scholarship on mine closure planning.

Reliable and affordable access to water and energy is critical to supporting remote mining-dependent communities in planning their social and economic transition after mine closure. Traditional cost-efficiency approaches employed by service providers have consistently failed on two accounts. First, they have paid little consideration to community needs in planning supply solutions. Second, typically, a single-minded focus on cost-effectiveness has led to isolated initiatives for energy supply, without considering their interface with sustainable water management. These practices have often led to unreliable and unaffordable services, particularly in remote jurisdictions, where community capacity is low, and over-reliance on company-supported infrastructure is common. This paper proposes a novel conceptual approach to planning integrated water and energy solutions to address these shortcomings. An integrated systems design offers several advantages, including optimal resource use, system and price efficiency, and reduced risk of social and environmental consequences. These advantages, in turn, support socio-economic development needs and may build community confidence in pursuing economic diversification post-mining. The framework, rooted in the principles of stakeholder engagement and intersectoral coordination, offers a critical resource for mine closure planners, regulators, and communities to minimise negative impacts from the closure of long-established mining operations and create new pathways to transition post-mining.

Achieving sustainability and climate goals requires accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. This study explores how and why Australia’s electricity transition has accelerated in recent years. By examining developments in solar and wind technologies, policies, and public attitudes, the research uncovers the feedback mechanisms and ‘tipping points’ that have driven progress and those that now risk slowing it. The findings provide new insights for policymakers and investors seeking to sustain momentum in clean energy transitions while managing emerging social, technical, and policy challenges.

Understanding the mechanisms that accelerate sustainability transitions is critical for achieving climate targets. This study provides new empirical insights through a socio-technical analysis of Australia’s electricity transition, focusing on wind and solar photovoltaic. Integrating theories of multi-level transitions, acceleration dynamics, and positive tipping points, we develop a taxonomy of feedback mechanisms relating to niche acceleration, regime decline, and niche deceleration. Using longitudinal analysis, process tracing, and qualitative system dynamics, we identify, categorise, and map 25 reinforcing and balancing feedbacks influencing the pace and direction of change. The analysis shows that Australia’s transition has unfolded through alternating periods of acceleration and deceleration in technology diffusion, shaped by interacting techno-economic, policy, and social actor feedbacks. Early public support and targeted policies triggered acceleration in the 2000s, while major cost reductions and industry advocacy reinforced momentum after 2016. Reinforcing feedbacks driving fossil-fuel regime decline emerged only once renewables reached a critical market share, whereas new balancing feedbacks, such as grid constraints, supply chain pressures, and policy misalignment, now present deceleration risks. The study advances understanding of acceleration dynamics by explicitly mapping causal feedback structures and revealing their sequencing, comparative strength, and cumulative effects. These insights inform adaptive policy strategies to sustain transition momentum.

Unpacking the feedbacks that are accelerating and slowing Australia’s clean energy transition.

Transitioning to a circular economy (CE) – where materials are reused rather than discarded – is a key sustainability challenge in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Quality infrastructure (QI), encompassing standards, metrology, and certification, is essential to validate circular claims and build market trust. This study shows that when QI organisations actively collaborate across borders, they innovate faster and develop more services for the CE. Regional partnerships and inclusive networks, especially those led by women and bridging organisations, are critical to driving this transition beyond national boundaries.

This paper examines how collaborative networks between QI and CE actors drive innovation in LAC. Drawing on empirical evidence from the regional Quality Infrastructure for the Circular Economy in Latin America and the Caribbean (QI4CE) project (2020–2024), which involved 150 QI organisations and 650 CE stakeholders across three sectors (plastics, agri-food, and construction), the study applies longitudinal social network analysis to test three hypotheses. Results confirm that baseline QI–CE networks were fragmented and nationally siloed (H1). Intensive participation in regional project activities led to fivefold network growth and significantly increased organisational heterogeneity, strongly predicting improvements in metrology, standardisation, and conformity assessment service innovation (H2). Organisations with superior territorial coordination and transnational networking capabilities, particularly regional connector bodies such as the Quality Infrastructure Council of the Americas, demonstrated the highest innovation outcomes (H3). Female leadership emerged as an additional driver of inclusive network development. The findings demonstrate that structured, data-driven investment in regional collaboration mechanisms accelerates CE adoption. Policymakers, international development organisations, and QI bodies should prioritise cross-border partnerships and inclusive governance to realise sustainable circular transitions.

Regional QI networks drive CE innovation in Latin America. Collaboration works – data prove it.

This study examined how glaciers contribute to streamflow and hydropower production in Norway’s Jostedøla River Basin (2000–2014). Model simulations suggest that glacier meltwater significantly supports the largest power plant (38.5%), whereas others rely on rainfall and groundwater flow. In June, snowmelt from areas without glacier cover supports streamflow during Warm and Dry days. However, in August, neither snow nor glacier meltwater can compensate for the rainfall deficit. We found that smaller power plants are more vulnerable to water intake fluctuations. Qualitative analysis reveals the differences between model results and stakeholder perceptions, potentially hindering effective climate adaptation and energy security efforts.

This study utilized a series of models to simulate the surface energy balance for meltwater production, soil water balance, and runoff routing, alongside semi-structured interviews and surveys. It examined glaciers’ contribution to streamflow and hydropower production, and stakeholder perceptions of these contributions in the Jostedøla River Basin, southwestern Norway (2000–2014). Whereas rainfall and baseflow are the most significant contributors at all studied power plants, glacier meltwater accounted for 38.5% of the intake at the largest power plant. In June, snowmelt from non-glacier-covered areas offset low rainfall, but in August, neither snow nor glacier meltwater compensated for deficits despite a high glacier meltwater contribution. Small-pondage plants are more vulnerable than reservoir plants to seasonal and annual fluctuations in intake.

Interviews and surveys with hydropower operators in the Jostedøla basin reveal agreement and disparity between perceptions and modeled results: operators recognize glacier meltwater’s contribution at power plants with significant water storage and assume no contribution at smaller run-of-the-river plants. The company reports overlooked glacier loss, framing climate change as beneficial due to higher precipitation. Reduced meltwater would diminish production, lowering municipal revenues from taxes and electricity sales and threatening funding for social services and local development.

Study reveals glaciers’ role in southwestern Norway’s hydropower production and the challenges of climate adaptation.

Europe’s transition to renewable energy depends not only on deploying more wind and solar farms but also on upgrading the electricity grids that connect them to where electricity is needed. However, insufficient progress in expanding high-voltage transmission networks is threatening further decarbonisation. This research examines two major cross-border grid projects aiming at linking Norway with Germany (NordLink) and the UK (NorthConnect). By investigating their development paths, we show how technical, political, and regulatory considerations shape progress and provide evidence to why some projects succeed while others stall – insights that can help accelerate clean energy transitions.

Accelerating renewable energy deployment in northern Europe exposes growing imbalances between electricity generation and the required grid capacity, creating bottlenecks such as curtailment and long connection queues. While addressing these challenges calls for large-scale and coordinated electricity grid expansion, many current projects are either delayed or cancelled. In this paper, we propose a novel conceptual framework that merges large technical systems and more contemporary sociotechnical transition approaches to explain how economic, technical, political, and institutional dynamics influence these network transitions. We apply this to analyse two interconnector projects: NordLink (Norway–Germany) and NorthConnect (Norway–UK). We draw on qualitative data, including interviews with developers, regulators, and policymakers, to identify critical branching points that influenced project trajectories. Our comparative analysis reveals how differing regulatory environments, forms of public contestation, and state strategies mediate the alignment or misalignment between accelerated renewable generation and network reconfiguration. By contrasting a completed (NordLink) and a stalled (NorthConnect) project, we highlight the infrastructural dimension of accelerated transitions, and provide insights into how governance approaches might better synchronise technological innovation and infrastructure development.

Interconnectors are critical for energy transitions. We investigate why some projects are successful and others stall.

We are in a polycrisis – the entanglement of crises across multiple, interconnected global systems such as climate, health, and finance – that interact to produce harms significantly greater than the sum of their parts. We propose that, to mitigate and adapt to this polycrisis, strong systemic risk governance is required, and that just and effective governance requires principles. Principles help us to identify common values, provide a framework for decision-making, and lead the necessary societal change towards a shared vision, taking on increasing importance in an ever more complex and fragile world.

We are facing multiple crises, from risks across systems that are central to the safety and prosperity of humanity and ecosystems. Traditional planning and implementation have been based on command-and-control approaches with narrow objectives formulated within a constrained logic model. However, the polycrisis and addressing systemic risk require multiple objectives beyond narrow ones, which cannot address large-scale initiatives in complex, dynamic environments aimed at systems transformation. This requires a deep consideration of what objectives societies and organizations have and how they should meet them. The notion of utilizing a set of guiding principles is critical. Principles are becoming ever more prominent in considerations around the different ways in which societies, organizations, and individuals operate. Principles take on increasing importance in an ever more complex world where our effectiveness depends on adapting to context, guiding adaptation, and facilitating dialogue on options, trade-offs, and choices. We propose a set of 10 principles to guide the development of the field of systemic risk assessment and response within and across multiple domains. These principles – developed to meet the needs of the field of systemic risk – provide a complete set of operating guidelines to drive towards safety, equity, and security for human and ecological systems.

This article proposes 10 principles for systemic risk governance to navigate the polycrisis and ensure a safe future.

The Anthropocene polycrisis is echoed by a partner phenomenon that resides largely in the human imagination. I propose calling it the narrative polycrisis: a profound and globalized loss of connection between the empirical world and the stories people develop about and from it. Rooted in revolutionary digital technologies, social media, and artificial intelligence – and boosted by a loss of ecological literacy, neoliberal thinking, and end-times worries – this linked set of disruptions in how people process and communicate information constitutes a breakdown in cognitive infrastructure that both reflects and worsens the visible elements of the Anthropocene polycrisis.

Well-warranted critiques of the effects of mass media are nothing new, but only in recent decades have trends in technology, the media industry, and the socio-political realm fused to create a unique set of problems that constitute a polycrisis. I label it the narrative polycrisis, both because it is characterized by many feedbacks between its own components and those of the larger Anthropocene polycrisis, and because, like the larger polycrisis, it poses unique threats to human well-being. This paper lays out some of the primary technological and socio-political roots of the narrative polycrisis and offers a defense for my choice of terminology. It also suggests potential directions for inquiry that may help researchers and others who seek to work to improve human well-being and better understand how the narrative polycrisis and the Anthropocene polycrisis are linked and could be addressed.

The Anthropocene polycrisis is shadowed by a narrative polycrisis – a new and dangerous breakdown in how we communicate.

Efforts to tackle climate change are increasingly delayed not through denial but through subtler arguments that emphasize costs, shift blame, or promote weak solutions. We created a tool to measure how much individuals agree with these ‘climate delay’ narratives. Across two studies conducted in Germany, we found that people who endorse these views are less likely to support climate-friendly behaviors or policies. Understanding and countering these arguments could help build public support for stronger climate action.

Opponents of climate action have shifted from outright denial of climate change to strategies that delay mitigation efforts. The framework for discourses of climate delay (DOCD) identified 12 distinct discourses, categorizing them into four broader themes: emphasize the downsides, redirect responsibility, surrender, and push for non-transformative solutions. These discourses frequently appear in advertisements, media coverage, and political debates. However, no validated questionnaire exists to measure agreement with these discourses, and little is known about how they are perceived in the general population or how they relate to pro-environmental behavior. Across two studies (n = 403, n = 966) in Germany, we developed a questionnaire to assess agreement with climate delay discourses and examined their associations with pro-environmental behaviors and attitudes (private-sphere behavior, collective climate action, social influence, and policy support). Contrary to the original four-factor framework, confirmatory factor analysis did not support a four-factor structure. Instead, exploratory factor analysis suggested a unidimensional scale consisting of nine items reflecting support of the status quo. Overall, endorsement of climate delay discourses was negatively associated with pro-environmental behaviors, with the strongest relationship observed for policy support. The scale offers a useful tool for identifying and addressing delay-based opposition in climate communication and policy advocacy.

DOCD undermine climate action – new research shows how to measure their influence.

Science diplomacy (SD) is increasingly used to encourage international collaboration and produce knowledge for global challenges. This study explores how a 12-year SD campaign helped shape a scientific community around the Water–Energy–Food (WEF) Nexus – a framework linking resource systems for sustainability. By analyzing events, recruitment efforts, and over 1,600 scientific publications, we trace how this community formed, evolved, and interacted with policy agendas. The results show both progress and challenges: growing collaboration and new research directions, but also delays between diplomatic goals and scientific output. The findings offer insights into how SD can support long-term sustainability through knowledge and institutional networks.

Global sustainability challenges have increased reliance on SD to mobilize research communities and align scientific production with policy goals. A central mechanism in these efforts is the formation of scientific epistemic communities (ECs), yet evidence on how SD contributes to durable communities and actionable knowledge remains limited. This study examines a 12-year SD campaign promoting the WEF Nexus, a framework encouraging integrated governance of interdependent resource systems. We combine qualitative coding of 143 SD events and 107 scientific recruitment activities with bibliometric analysis of 1,643 WEF publications (2011–2022). This mixed-methods approach traces the temporal and structural evolution of the WEF EC, focusing on recruitment patterns, thematic consolidation, and co-authorship network resilience. Findings show that SD efforts broadened participation, supported the emergence of a recurring group of authors, diversified journal outlets, and expanded global collaboration networks. Network simulations reveal that by 2022 the EC was moderately resilient but remained dependent on a small subset of strategically connected researchers. The analysis also identifies a temporal lag between SD agenda-setting and scientific response, raising considerations about the alignment of science and policy cycles. Overall, the results clarify conditions under which SD can catalyze scientific community formation and support sustainability-oriented knowledge infrastructures.

How does SD shape global research? Our new study on the WEF Nexus reveals key mechanisms and insights.