Climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, social upheaval, and political chaos are all manifestations of a singular crisis—a global polycrisis. The evidence is all around us. We are inundated by blaring alarms signaling multiple problems, yet we have not responded...
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Through a systems thinking lens, the individual crises associated with the 2026 war in Iran are all facets of a singular crisis. Â The resultant cascade of damaging consequences illustrates the feedback loops that define the global polycrisis. The same hyper-connected...
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An ever-expanding web of feedback loops is converging to generate system-wide risks—collectively known as the polycrisis. The cascading effects of interconnected crises represent the collision of four deeply intertwined systems: ecology, economics, politics, and social dynamics. Actions in one domain...
Read moreDetailsThe recent Conference of the Parties is being hailed as both a historic success and an epic failure. So who really won the fossil fuel war at COP 28? The global agreement to phase down fossil fuels was heralded by...
The fossil fuel industry has a long history of malfeasance but their misapplication of carbon capture may be their most audacious disinformation ploy to date. As explained in an Energy Transitions Commission report, carbon technology is being ‘co-opted’ by fossil-fuel...
Artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to achieve all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Although there are some potential downsides, the overall impact of AI on SDGs is overwhelmingly positive with significant benefits for the development of low-carbon sources of...
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Richard Matthews is a researcher, writer, journalist, consultant, and change activist. He has published thousands of articles and contributed to reports for policymakers including a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) publication. His critical, interdisciplinary analyses have been cited by a wide array of, academic publications. His research interests include carbon removal, nuclear power, and disinformation. He is currently spearheading Change Oracle’s Polycrisis Project (COPP).
The trajectory of planetary heating has escalated at an alarming rate, transforming what were once considered extreme anomalies into a harrowing baseline reality. With greenhouse gas emissions continuing to rise, we are extending a relentless, decade-spanning streak of record-breaking warmth. From scorching terrestrial heatwaves affecting billions to a boiling marine...
Through a systems thinking lens, the individual crises associated with the 2026 war in Iran are all facets of a singular crisis. Â The resultant cascade of damaging consequences illustrates the feedback loops that define the global polycrisis. The same hyper-connected web of self reinforcing cycles also triggered the conflict. This...
The Trump administration has fired senior officials and hundreds of thousands of civil service employees throughout the government. This purge removed some of the most capable federal employees and replaced them with unqualified loyalists. The White House changed the rules to make it easier to fire senior federal civil servants....
An ever-expanding web of feedback loops is converging to generate system-wide risks—collectively known as the polycrisis. The cascading effects of interconnected crises represent the collision of four deeply intertwined systems: ecology, economics, politics, and social dynamics. Actions in one domain reverberate across the others, attenuating or accelerating crises while weakening...
Listen as a podcast Earth’s life-support systems are failing. Humanity is surpassing critical environmental thresholds and increasing the risk of triggering irreversible climate tipping points. It is hard to overstate the perilousness of our trajectory. While we have seen incremental local gains on a wide range of climate, biodiversity, and...
Listen as a Podcast 2025 delivered a series of meaningful environmental and climate achievements, spanning wildlife recoveries, declining deforestation in key regions, rapid renewable energy expansion, and transformative advances in sustainability-focused technologies. At the same time, local climate initiatives and Indigenous leadership strengthened community-driven conservation and stewardship efforts. Despite intense...
The trajectory of planetary heating has escalated at an alarming rate, transforming what were once considered extreme anomalies into a...
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