Levers and leverage points for pathways to sustainability

Humanity is on a deeply unsustainable trajectory. We are exceeding planetary boundaries and unlikely to meet many international sustainable development goals and global environmental targets. Until recently, there was no broadly accepted framework of interventions that could ignite the transformatio...

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Published in:	People and nature (Hoboken, N.J.) Vol. 2; no. 3; pp. 693 - 717
Main Authors:	Chan, Kai M. A., Boyd, David R., Gould, Rachelle K., Jetzkowitz, Jens, Liu, Jianguo, Muraca, Barbara, Naidoo, Robin, Olmsted, Paige, Satterfield, Terre, Selomane, Odirilwe, Singh, Gerald G., Sumaila, Rashid, Ngo, Hien T., Boedhihartono, Agni Klintuni, Agard, John, Aguiar, Ana Paula D., Armenteras, Dolors, Balint, Lenke, Barrington‐Leigh, Christopher, Cheung, William W. L., Díaz, Sandra, Driscoll, John, Esler, Karen, Eyster, Harold, Gregr, Edward J., Hashimoto, Shizuka, Hernández Pedraza, Gladys Cecilia, Hickler, Thomas, Kok, Marcel, Lazarova, Tanya, Mohamed, Assem A. A., Murray‐Hudson, Mike, O'Farrell, Patrick, Palomo, Ignacio, Saysel, Ali Kerem, Seppelt, Ralf, Settele, Josef, Strassburg, Bernardo, Xue, Dayuan, Brondízio, Eduardo S., Bridgewater, Peter
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-09-2020 Wiley
Subjects:	Biodiversity Capacity development Climate change Decision making ecosystem services Ecosystems Environmental law Geoengineering governance interventions human population size Incentives indirect drivers Intergovernmental Science‐Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Intervention Jurisdiction Levers Literature reviews Meetings Peer review policy relational values Social change Social interactions Social-ecological systems Sustainability Sustainable development Transformations
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Summary:	Humanity is on a deeply unsustainable trajectory. We are exceeding planetary boundaries and unlikely to meet many international sustainable development goals and global environmental targets. Until recently, there was no broadly accepted framework of interventions that could ignite the transformations needed to achieve these desired targets and goals. As a component of the IPBES Global Assessment, we conducted an iterative expert deliberation process with an extensive review of scenarios and pathways to sustainability, including the broader literature on indirect drivers, social change and sustainability transformation. We asked, what are the most important elements of pathways to sustainability? Applying a social–ecological systems lens, we identified eight priority points for intervention (leverage points) and five overarching strategic actions and priority interventions (levers), which appear to be key to societal transformation. The eight leverage points are: (1) Visions of a good life, (2) Total consumption and waste, (3) Latent values of responsibility, (4) Inequalities, (5) Justice and inclusion in conservation, (6) Externalities from trade and other telecouplings, (7) Responsible technology, innovation and investment, and (8) Education and knowledge generation and sharing. The five intertwined levers can be applied across the eight leverage points and more broadly. These include: (A) Incentives and capacity building, (B) Coordination across sectors and jurisdictions, (C) Pre‐emptive action, (D) Adaptive decision‐making and (E) Environmental law and implementation. The levers and leverage points are all non‐substitutable, and each enables others, likely leading to synergistic benefits. Transformative change towards sustainable pathways requires more than a simple scaling‐up of sustainability initiatives—it entails addressing these levers and leverage points to change the fabric of legal, political, economic and other social systems. These levers and leverage points build upon those approved within the Global Assessment's Summary for Policymakers, with the aim of enabling leaders in government, business, civil society and academia to spark transformative changes towards a more just and sustainable world. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
ISSN:	2575-8314 2575-8314
DOI:	10.1002/pan3.10124