New Publication: Shedding Light on the Global Polycrisis
A new review article co-authored by Adina Arth (ZHAW Zurich Center for Sustainability Leadership) has been published in the Annual Review of Environment and Resources. The paper examines how the concept of the polycrisis – the interlinkages of multiple global crises such as climate change, health crises, conflicts, and social inequality – is understood and applied in academic literature.
The research team systematically analyzed around 2,300 publications and identified 59 key studies. Their findings show that while the term polycrisis is increasingly used, it is often defined inconsistently. Based on this body of work, the authors including Adina Arth propose a comprehensive definition: “multiple co-occurring, causally entangled crises with synergistic effects on multiple systems that exceed the sum of its parts and degrade humanity’s prospects.”
The study also highlights the main drivers of the global polycrisis – including economic structures, societal values, land use, and overconsumption – and discusses possible interventions, ranging from policy reforms to deeper shifts in governance, economic systems, and values.