“No one is secure outside planetary boundaries”

“In a time of profound uncertainty, the risks we face as humanity are global, interconnected, and growing. They challenge what makes this planet liveable,” said Line Gordon, Centre director, in her opening speech.

Current developments in nature, society, and economies indicate that much work remains to improve the state of our planet. Johan Rockström, Centre co-founder and Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, highlighted this in his latest update on the health of our planet:

“Six out of nine planetary boundaries are outside of the safe operating space, and for the first time, we are on the verge of breaching the planetary boundary of a 1.5 degrees Celsius limit, which risks causing irreversible changes in the functioning of the biosphere’s life support systems.”

According to Rockström, the rising temperatures are already impacting economies. Last year’s extreme events are estimated to have cost over 200 billion US dollars, and by 2050, we could see a 19% loss of income compared to a “business as usual” scenario.

“The pathway for a safe landing requires a transformative approach, phasing out fossil fuels and achieving a net-zero world economy by 2050 at the latest,” Rockström stated.

Despite these challenges, signs of hope have emerged over the past decade, as noted by Carl Folke, Chair of the Centre Board:

“There has been a remarkable shift in the right direction — the changes many did not expect to see in their lifetime. For instance, over a hundred central banks are now engaged in microeconomic strategies related to environmental and biological diversity; half of the 2,000 largest companies in the world, based on stock value, have set net-zero targets and more”.

Resilience is about transforming into something better

Before diving into the Centre’s scientific insights from the past year, science directors Magnus Nyström and Beatrice Crona set the stage by exploring the essence of resilience science in turbulent times.

“We live in a unique situation—a thin 20 km layer of life known as the biosphere. In just a few centuries, humans have become a major force altering this global biosphere,” Nyström explained.

Over the past two centuries, rapid developments have resulted in a rapid increase in population from 1 to 8 billion people; thus, water and energy consumption, and use of land and sea, the mass created by humans, has also surpassed all living biomass. This led to led to significant shock events (e.g., pandemics, supply chain disruptions, food and energy crises) and creeping changes (e.g., climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution)—all of which contribute to a polycrisis.

Research on resilience at the Centre serves as a guide for navigating these turbulent times and addressing multiple crises in a forward-looking manner.

“Resilience is not about bouncing back to what was there before; it is about transforming into something better by utilising diverse knowledge and skills,” Crona explained.

Research covering modern challenges and transformative pathways

In the knowledge part of the event, Centre researchers and PhD candidates shared the latest scientific insights and contributions to sustainability and resilience science, summarised in the Annual report 2024: Our liveable planet.

Centre researcher and Anthropocene dynamics and capacities theme co-leader Peter Søgaard Jørgensen emphasised how human impact on ecosystems affects both the planet and human health.

Researcher and Transformative futures theme co-leader Garry Peterson reflected on the importance of envisioning the future we are heading toward:

“If we are moving toward a novel world that differs from the past, we need new ways to imagine the future by bringing together people with diverse knowledge who might not otherwise engage with one another,” Peterson said.

While discussing Centre research on Food systems, PhD candidate Mary Scheuermann brought insights on shifting from diets with a higher environmental impact to healthier and more sustainable diets. This could be done by increasing plant-based food consumption and reducing animal-sourced products, maximising land use for local food production, and coordinating actions and policies among various stakeholders.

One of the research frontiers at the Centre, presented by a PhD candidate Frida Bengtsson, is the deep ocean.

“The ocean is the largest ecosystem on the planet, covering up to 70% of its surface, yet we know very little about its resources and the genetic diversity found in its depths. Half of the ocean lies in international waters, which is a common heritage of mankind that requires collective governance,” said Bengtsson.

In recent years, sustainability science has faced challenges from increasing misinformation and polarisation within society. Centre researcher Victor Galaz has been investigating the role AI could play in addressing these challenges and enhancing sustainability. Also, he recently published a book “Dark Machines: How Artificial Intelligence, Digitalization and Automation is Changing our Living Planet” on this topic.

Another approach to combat misinformation and polarisation is to facilitate dialogue among individuals with differing viewpoints. During the event, Centre researcher Tim Daw shared learnings from the first Swedish National Citizen Assembly on Climate:

“People with very different views were able to come together and discuss how to achieve a just climate transition in Sweden. While they may not have agreed on everything, they developed a constructive way to disagree,” Daw shared, noting that the findings from the first citizen assembly later inspired civil society organisations and municipalities to replicate the process on local scales.

In a follow-up panel, experts from various organisations reflected on the scientific insights presented.

“People are drawn to facts, and it is inspiring to see how the example of the citizen assembly can help to 'puncture' the heated discussions surrounding sustainability, climate, and the environment,” said Åsa Persson, research director and deputy director of the Stockholm Environment Institute.

Darja Isaksson, director general at Vinnova, added: “We are at a point where leaders acknowledge that our generation will live in a state of polycrisis for the foreseeable future. Therefore, it is crucial to create a sense of urgency, as there is no security outside planetary boundaries. We need the tools and knowledge to navigate this complex landscape.”

Educating future sustainability leaders

Centre education programmes have been actively engaging with a wide range of audiences, from young academics to trade union and business leaders. During the event, alumni from executive training programmes and students, currently enrolled in Master's and PhD programmes, shared their reflections on the education offered at the Centre.

Fredrik Nilzén, Head of Sustainability at Scania, was one of 90 business leaders enrolled in the Executive programme in Resilience thinking. He shared his take-aways from the education:

“SRC has been informing our work for many years, and it is great to have something that is a little bit stable while everything else is shaking. But I am afraid that we don't get enough research and innovation into our thinking on how to build the next version of our society. Instead, we spend too much time on protecting what we loved yesterday,” said Nilzén.

Marie Nilsson, President of IF Metall, has been a part of the executive programme for trade union leaders, hosted by Stockholm Resilience Centre and Fairtrans programme. In the event, she highlighted the competitive benefits of following the transformative path:

”When we speak to our (union) members and in our organisation about this, we say that we have a choice to make here. Either we develop the new technique and jobs, and make transformation here in Sweden, or if we do not do that, the other countries will do it,” said Nilsson.

Master student Ida Edling shared that she wanted to study at the Centre since her teenage years. Previously graduated in law, she has been leading the Aurora organisation, which has sued the Swedish government in court for not treating the climate crisis as a crisis.

“Every single demand that we make in our lawsuit and the entire design strategy of our lawsuit is informed by the best available science about climate and health, climate action, the severe state of our planet – Centre research has been important for informing that,” said Edling.

After years of a political career, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, Per Bolund returned to the Centre to pursue a doctoral degree in urban ecosystem services.

“I came to politics from science, and I knew how much knowledge we had, and I wanted to find a way to implement that. That was not easy, kind of frustrating sometimes. What we now need from science even more is not just the what, because that is really subtle, but it's the how - how can we actually get the transformation going that is needed?” said Bolund.

Building trust in turbulent times

Collaborations with change makers are an integral part of the centre. Deputy science director Michele-Lee More noted that only through collaborations science and practice meet:

“We alone can't figure out exactly what our scientific insights mean for your sector, government agency or company. Collaborations help to figure out how we actually make this happen in practice,” said Moore.

Last year, Centre partnered with the Swedish Ski Association and the Alpine World Cup in Åre for the first-ever Nordic Sustainability Arena. The events aimed at discussing how the skiing industry could contribute to saving white winters.

“We had 16 weather-related cancellations last winter, only in the Alpine World Cup. We're in the middle of this crisis, which we see daily. We figured that we need to do something as an organiser and to use the power of the sport,” shared Olle Danielsson, CEO of Åre World Cup.

The Nordic Sustainability arena was followed by the “after ski” event: “Snowtopia”, in collaboration with Live Green. Louise Lindén, Founder and Secretary General at LiveGreen, reflected that both athletes and artists have great platforms to speak and act, as people listen them more than scientists.

“We need this kind of innovative storytellers to be able to deal with the imagination crisis that we are also in. Music, art, sports, skiing, those are things that people are very passionate about, but they are at risk. If we are doing business as usual, we are risking sacrificing white winters,” concluded Lindén.