An interdisciplinary framework for navigating social-climatic tipping points

To effectively navigate out of the climate crisis, a new interdisciplinary approach is needed to guide and facilitate research that integrates diverse understandings of how transitions evolve in intertwined social-environmental systems.The concept of tipping points, frequently used in the natural sciences and increasingly in the social sciences, can help elucidate processes underlying major social-environmental transitions. We develop the notion of interlinked 'social-climatic tipping points' in which desirability and intentionality are key constitutive features alongside stable states, feedbacks, reversibility and abruptness.We demonstrate the new insights that our interdisciplinary framework can provide by analysing the slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and associated flooding of the Ahr Valley in Germany as a social-climatic tipping point.This framework can enable more sustainable and equitable futures by prioritising social-climatic tipping points for interdisciplinary research, identifying opportunities for action, and evaluating the nuanced desirability and acceptability of proposed solutions.

Automated summary

In order to effectively tackle the climate crisis, a new interdisciplinary approach is necessary to incorporate various understandings of transitions in interconnected social-environmental systems. The concept of tipping points, commonly used in natural sciences and increasingly in social sciences, can help to explain processes underlying major social-environmental transitions. By introducing the concept of social-climatic tipping points, which consider desirability and intentionality as crucial factors, along with stable states, feedbacks, reversibility, and abruptness, we demonstrate the insights provided by our interdisciplinary framework through the analysis of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation slowdown and flooding in the Ahr Valley as a social-climatic tipping point. This framework can contribute to more sustainable and equitable futures by prioritizing social-climatic tipping points for interdisciplinary research, identifying opportunities for action, and evaluating the nuanced desirability and acceptability of proposed solutions.