2015 SkS Weekly Digest #25

The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all. At the global level, it is a complex system linked to many of the essential conditions for human life. A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system. In recent decades this warming has been accompanied by a constant rise in the sea level and, it would appear, by an increase of extreme weather events, even if a scientifically determinable cause cannot be assigned to each particular phenomenon. Humanity is called to recognise the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat this warming or at least the human causes which produce or aggravate it. It is true that there are other factors (such as volcanic activity, variations in the Earth’s orbit and axis, the solar cycle), yet a number of scientific studies indicate that most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides and others) released mainly as a result of human activity. Concentrated in the atmosphere, these gases do not allow the warmth of the sun’s rays reflected by the Earth to be dispersed in space. The problem is aggravated by a model of development based on the intensive use of fossil fuels, which is at the heart of the worldwide energy system. Another determining factor has been an increase in changed uses of the soil, principally deforestation for agricultural purposes.

Delivering sustainability requires an integrated view of the world. The GSI is committed to playing a key role in the development of practical solutions to the challenges facing humanity. Key to this is the bringing together of information needed to make decisions with the people capable of implementing action.

The GSI's research focuses on personal motivations and systems change set against the challenges of sustainability. Our core research question is how does the system influence the individual, and how does the individual influence the system? The 'system' is the political, financial, industrial and social frameworks that contribute to challenges we face and lock us into future pathways. These may be environmental challenges such as climate change, natural capital challenges such as resource limits or social challenges such as local and global inequity.

The GSI four key areas of research which focus on (i) personal motivations and (ii) systems change, set against the challenges of sustainability:

The GSI has built a global reputation for its research with major publications in communication of climate science, policy and climate finance. We have partnerships with business, not-for-profit organisations, the UK Government, EU Commission and the United Nations as well as UK research council-funded projects.