Transitions to plant-based diets: the role of societal tipping points

Current Opinion in Food Science, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 51, P. 101015 - 101015

Published: March 17, 2023

Changing diets toward more plant-based on a large scale could provide huge contribution to reducing humanities impact the environment.However, behavior change is typically slow, particularly for culturally ingrained and socially dependent behaviors such as food dietary choice.A concept suggesting potential rapid changes, though, 'societal tipping points'.This review explains background of using literature from systems theory, innovation adoption, network consumer behavior.Theories well recent research insights suggest that short-and long-term actions are needed move niche across point becoming large-scale behavior.

Language: Английский

---

Earth Systems to Anthropocene Systems: An Evolutionary, System-of-Systems, Convergence Paradigm for Interdependent Societal Challenges

Environmental Science & Technology, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 57(14), P. 5504 - 5520

Published: March 31, 2023

Humans have made profound changes to the Earth. The resulting societal challenges of Anthropocene (e.g., climate change and impacts, renewable energy, adaptive infrastructure, disasters, pandemics, food insecurity, biodiversity loss) are complex systemic, with causes, interactions, consequences that cascade across a globally connected system systems. In this Critical Review, we turn our "origin story" for insight, briefly tracing formation Universe Earth, emergence life, evolution multicellular organisms, mammals, primates, humans, as well more recent transitions involving agriculture, urbanization, industrialization, computerization. Focusing on genetic evolution, brain, cultural which includes technological identify nested evolutionary sequence geophysical, biophysical, sociocultural, sociotechnical systems, emphasizing causal mechanisms first formed, then transformed, Earth systems into Describing how coevolved, illustrating ensuing became tightly integrated multiple spatial, temporal, organizational scales, conclude by proposing an evolutionary, system-of-systems, convergence paradigm entire family interdependent Anthropocene.

Language: Английский

---

Fueling protest? Climate change mitigation, fuel prices and protest onset

World Development, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 177, P. 106536 - 106536

Published: Jan. 23, 2024

Mitigating global warming requires a rapid reduction in the use of fossil fuels which form foundation modern economies. Fossil fuel is crucial for minimizing future loss and damage associated with changing climate, but challenging task. In diverse contexts, climate-friendly policies that increased prices have sparked massive, at times violent, protests, ultimately leading to reversal those policies. However, what extent under conditions affect protest more generally poorly understood. Addressing this gap, we study how likelihood onset. We theorize increases may create economic grievances through their impacts on cost living income. also suggest following such price would be particularly high where attribution blame government feasible, as subsidizing states, well when governments are seen being able provide remedy petroleum producing states. evaluate our theoretical framework using country-level monthly statistics 2003–2015, combining data gasoline, policies, country characteristics, subject results placebo sensitivity tests. Our finds gasoline hikes increase onset across sample. line framework, find evidence clustering relationships presence subsidies oil production, (in)action tends higher. These highlight need policymakers anticipate public responses increases. This lays groundwork detailed investigations into subsidy tax reforms.

Language: Английский

---

How to move the transition to sustainable food consumption towards a societal tipping point

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: 203, P. 123329 - 123329

Published: March 23, 2024

A large-scale transition of food consumption in high-income countries is required to mitigate adverse impacts on the climate and environment. To further understand which actions can contribute triggering societal tipping sustainability transitions empirical observations a closer link existing theories urgently needed. We integrate renowned models behavior change, consumption, marketing into framework positive points using an analysis four case studies from Denmark. The proposed specifies enabling conditions, interventions, reinforcing feedback. suggest that factors identified consumer-oriented theoretical frameworks lead points. Also, sustainable requires not only engagement all groups actors—business/industry, policy, civil society, consumers—but also pooling aligning available resources trigger point. provide interesting examples how influential single players scale up system change. paper concludes with critical reflection system.

Language: Английский

---

Bringing the political system (back) into social tipping relevant to sustainability

Energy Policy, Journal Year: 2023, Volume and Issue: 177, P. 113529 - 113529

Published: March 27, 2023

Recently, social tipping dynamics relevant to sustainability have become the subject of a growing literature. Numerous publications seek bring concept (back) from natural system and make important contributions its conceptualization, definition, constant refinement. Yet, despite wide array, current literature has blind spot: it does neither adequately integrate, conceptualize, nor measure role political sphere thus underestimates importance for processes. This is starting point our contribution, which not only emphasizes dimension's relevance analysis tipping, but also proposes two main ways integrate into such analyses: by conceptualizing either as trigger or an element that can tip itself. Moreover, capture complexity sphere, namely interaction between networks, actors, processes, we suggest analysing along three elements: polity, politics, policy. We illustrate empirical benefit these refinements presenting comparative case study nuclear phase-out in Germany Switzerland.

Language: Английский

---