Exploring Structures, Surprises, and Sparks in Transformative Change

What are the main points you will talk about in your keynote speech?

My talk will address questions and discussions on how never-before experienced societal transformations toward global sustainability can be achieved. The research letter provides us with a broad palette of different theories and examples of how transformations can be instigated and navigated. 

Can you give examples of successful sustainable transformations you have seen or been involved in?

As societal transformation toward sustainable development needs to be global in scope to be truly successful, we do not have many successful examples. However, we have many partial and promising success stories. In the database from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) we have 400 promising examples. I will discuss some of these in the talk.  

We also have historical examples, such as the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, which demonstrate that practices deeply embedded in the economy, can be replaced in less than a generation under the right circumstances where public opinion evolves in tandem with technological, political, economic, social and cultural change. 

Changes in the global political economy are crucial.

What are the biggest challenges in achieving sustainable transformations worldwide?

I would say that the biggest challenges include achieving structural changes in the political economy, spurring value changes in our perception of the good life and a thriving society, ensuring that climate-friendly technological innovations are not counteracted by rebound effects, and reversing the global trend of democratic decline.

In your experience, what structural changes are most effective in supporting sustainable transformations?  

Changes in the global political economy are crucial. The Bridgetown Initiative, which spearheads the push for debt relief, is a fundamentally important step in the right direction for societal transformation efforts in many of the most climate-vulnerable countries.