Changing Our Systems Means Changing How We Think About Them
by Rachel Jetel The global crises we face today—climate, ecological, health, equity, geopolitical and beyond—are deeply interconnected. Changes in one system can lead to unforeseen consequences in others. If we’re to ensure a sustainable and just future for all, we must navigate our response to these crises through a systems lens in order to fully grasp the complex dynamics at work. We created the Systems Change Lab in response to the urgent need for transformational change. It aims to spur action at both the pace and scale needed to tackle the world’s greatest challenges across climate, nature and equity by encouraging us to think systemically—to recognize the interconnectedness not only of these challenges, but also their solutions. Complex Problems Rarely Have Simple Answers Many governments, corporate leaders, and civil society organizations approach change projects with linear models and plans: “If we do A, then B will happen.” But engaging a complex system isn’t as simple as this. Take the global power system, for example. Electricity has changed people’s lives for the better in countless ways. Yet hundreds of millions still lack access to reliable power; the burning of fossil fuels that provides most of our electricity is warming the planet, contributing around 23% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and shifts to cleaner power sources are happening nowhere near fast enough to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees C, which scientists tell us we must do to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Fixing each of these problems while also protecting human health and jobs is no small task. Transforming our global power system into a more sustainable and just future for all will necessarily require key, and interconnected, component shifts. A singular focus on adding zero-carbon electricity generation will only get us so far. We must simultaneously be phasing out electricity generation from unabated fossil fuels. We’ll also need to update grids, increase and more effectively manage our means of power distribution, ensure equitable access and improve the resilience of the power system to the impacts of a changing climate. All of this must be done in a way that ensures those communities that have long been dependent on fossil fuel production aren’t left behind. In other words: there are no silver bullets, but rather a jigsaw of solutions that must be carefully pieced together. It’s critical to consider the relationships between systems—to acknowledge how shifts in one system can foster change in others. How might electrification of sectors like transport and industry affect demand and efficiency in the power sector? How might land use considerations and the placement of new wind and solar infrastructure affect agricultural production? How can we shift to healthier, more sustainable diets while also increasing crop productivity and protecting vulnerable ecosystems? These and more are the kinds of systemic questions we must be asking ourselves as we move forward, all while remaining acutely aware of the broader geopolitical and landscape-level complexities at work. Identifying Obstacles and Opportunities To limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees C, halt biodiversity loss and build a fairer economy, we will need to transform nearly every major system, including how we grow our food, power our economies, build our cities and conserve nature. Cross-cutting transitions must also occur in our political, social and economic systems: how we finance these transformations, define our measures of economic prosperity, govern our shared natural resources and ensure that all can benefit from the sustainable economy. Within each of these systems, there are a number of component shifts that must happen concurrently—and rapidly—to bring about the necessary level of change. Systems Change Lab has identified more than 70 critical shifts which, taken together, can help transform nearly all major systems. Among them: phasing out the internal combustion engine; extending financial services to underserved communities; adopting more holistic indicators of economic well-being; developing abatement solutions for polluting industries like steel, cement and plastics; and restoring deforested and degraded land. Along the path to systems change, we’ll encounter both enablers and barriers. The specifics will vary widely, but Systems Change Lab has identified five general categories in which they can be found:- Innovations in technology, practices and approaches
- The degree and quality of leadership from change agents
- Regulation and incentives
- The relative strength of institutions
- Behavioral changes and shifts in social norms
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About the Author Sustainability and systems change expert, Rachel Jetel is Co-Director of the World Resources Institute’s Systems Change Lab. The Lab is a collaborative focused on monitoring, learning from and accelerating the transformational changes required to protect both people and the planet. |
Sasin Collaborative Thought Leadership: Transforming Our Critical Systems Complex multi-actor systems have developed around satisfying critical human needs, such as nutrition, mobility, energy, or housing. These systems, as well as enabling sub-systems such as education, finance, etcetera, represent most of our economic activity, but there is also enormous inefficiency embedded in the complexity and dynamics through which these systems have evolved, making them responsible for most of humanity’s environmental and social impact. Current efforts to reduce our negative impact can hardly be considered successful, because too much focus is still on marginal improvement of our traditional models. Only 18% of the 169 targets set for the 2030 SDGs are on track to be reached (most targets show virtually no progress and 15% are in fact reversing). This is why increasingly, scholars and practitioners are trying to understand the nature of systemic change, the radical reinvention of our critical systems. Cambridge University Press recently published ‘Transforming our Critical Systems – How Can We Achieve the Systemic Change the World Needs’ by Sasin professor GJ van der Zanden and researcher Rozanne Henzen. Sasin has invited thought leaders and practitioners from around the world to share their visions and insights on the reinvention of the systems that they are part of. These pieces provide a rich variety of perspectives from business, policy makers, civil society, academia and think tanks, as well as enablers such as finance, technology and start-ups. In systems change, incorporating perspectives from multiple stakeholders is essential to come to a shared understanding of the system dynamics and challenges, develop a shared vision of the future and explore possible interventions and collaborations.