Centre Director Johan Rockström and Al Gore in front of the touch screen visualising Centre research at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 2015. Photo: M. Hager/swiss-image.ch

World Economic Forum 2015

Stockholm Resilience Centre research on display in Davos

New research findings presented during seven sessions at the World Economic Forum in Davos

This year's theme of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos (21-24 January) is the "New Global Context." The conference organisers conclude that the world is increasingly fragile, uncertain and that today's leaders will need a whole new set of skills to navigate it.

Centre Director Johan Rockström has been invited to present the latest findings on planetary boundaries (published in Science, 16 January) in seven sessions at the annual event. 

"Earth is now in a quantifiably new state. We have identified nine boundaries. More worryingly, we assess Earth has now crossed four of these boundaries, including the two core boundaries, climate change and biosphere integrity," says Rockström.  

"This means the two-degree climate target nations are set to agree on in Paris this year carries significant risks. We cannot rule out Earth crossing tipping points, for example, destabilising major ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, causing dramatic sea-level rise in the coming centuries," he continues.

"But we have also reached a tipping point for mobilisation. An increasing number of policymakers, businesses and NGOs all support immediate and profound action to decarbonise the global economy."

Visualisation of science
Johan Rockström is in Davos together with Swedish freelance photographer and film producer Mattias Klum, who is also Honorary Doctor in Natural Science at Stockholm University and Senior Fellow at Stockholm Resilience Centre.

Together they will give several presentations in the heart of the World Economic Forum annual meeting using a large multi-touch screen that combines Klum’s photography with visualisations of the latest scientific insights on the links between global environmental change and human prosperity.

Press conference and book launch
In Davos Johan Rockström and Mattias Klum will also present their upcoming book "BIG WORLD SMALL PLANET – Abundance within planetary boundaries", during a breakfast seminar, and participate in a press conference with The World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

At the press conference Stockholm Resilience Centre and WWF will present and answer question on the latest findings on the "New Global Context for the planet." Speakers also include Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations, New York, and Marco Lambertini, Director-General, WWF International, Switzerland.

Published: 2015-01-22

More info

Related info

The World Economic Forum in Davos takes place 21-24 January, 2015

The theme for the 2015 forum is "New Global Context"

Read more about the forum here

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