When people ask me how worried I am about the future, you will always hear me say the words ‘tipping point’ in the first sentence. ⚖️
Why? Because there is no going back from a tipping point. Once it’s reached, that’s it. 🛑 You trigger consequences that are too big to manage, that are irreversible and that - like a domino effect - cannot be stopped. You can’t put a genie back into the bottle.
There are a number of tipping points. 🌍 There are six in the frozen parts of the planet; sixteen in the region on, above and below the Earth's surface; and four in the ocean and atmosphere circulations.
This month, our eyes have been on two significant tipping points: ocean currents and the Amazon rainforest.
🌊 New research published in Science Advances has found that a large system of ocean currents that help keep Western Europe milder (called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)) may already be on course to a tipping point. This would put large parts of Europe in a deep freeze and lead to worldwide food and water shortages - amongst other consequences. The scientists signal that this could happen in the “not too distant future” - in our lifetimes. ⏳
🌿 And another study published in Nature has found that up to half of the Amazon rainforest could transform into grasslands or weakened ecosystems in the coming decades, which in turn could lead to the collapse of the whole forest ecosystem. 🚨This in turn would release years’ worth of global emissions as trees (which store carbon) are replaced by degraded ecosystems.
What does this mean for us? Asking ourselves how our current role, skillset and expertise can help pivot the discussion from negative tipping points to positive ones, and where together with others our efforts and actions lead to disproportionately large and rapid benefits that accelerate the transition of societies toward sustainability. 🤝 This week, we have an overview of what this role looks like for CFOs, as well as for procurement and supply chain leaders.
Here we come, positive tipping points. ⏩ 🚀
Have a good weekend,
Anna
Source: The Global Tipping Point Report (2023), summarised here.
