A grant from the Global Challenges Foundation enables the Earth Commission to look further into questions of governance to achieve social goals within planetary boundaries and understand what pathways these transformations can take.
Stockholm, 20 October 2020
A 15 million SEK grant over three years from the Global Challenges Foundation enables the Earth Commission to look further into questions of governance.
The grant will support the Transformations Working Group to investigate the socio-economic drivers that are increasing climate risks and threaten biodiversity. Important tasks will be to investigate the socio-economic drivers of climate risks and biodiversity decline, and the synergies and trade-offs between social and environmental goals for sustainability.
Another focus will be to examine the actors, levers and policies that promote transformative change. An important aspect is how governance and the institutions of our societies can be designed to achieve a desired transformation.
The first report from the Earth Commission is due in 2022, with the final report scheduled to 2023.
The grant will also finance professor Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK to assess global systemic risks with specific focus on developing a system risk framework for Earth system change and to integrate tipping points into the model.
“The most exciting but also challenging part of our work is that we will weave together the ideas of what is safe from an environmental perspective, and what is just from a social perspective and how these relate to each other. We will also look at how we can bridge the gap between what is necessary to create a safe future and what is politically possible to achieve. Moving from incremental change to transformative change requires a shift in vision, understanding and commitment from leaders, scientists, and civil society, said professor Joyeeta Gupta, co-lead of the Transformations Working Group.
“Identifying governance solutions on how to stay within planetary boundaries in a safe and just way is crucial for humanity and we are happy to be able to contribute to this important work”, said Linda Burenius, Senior Advisor at Global Challenges Foundation.
For further information, kindly contact Head of Communications Ulrika Westin e-mail ulrika@globalchallenges.org, telephone +46 (0)70 890 02 01.
The Global Challenges Foundation works to incite deeper understanding of the global risks that threaten humanity and catalyze ideas to tackle them. Rooted in a scientific analysis of risks, the Foundation brings together the brightest minds from academic, politics, business and civil society to forge transformative approaches to secure a better future for all. www.globalchallenges.org
