Overcoming resistance to enable sustainability transformations
Introduction
The sustainability science and policy literature extensively underscores the need for transition and transformation of socio-techno-ecological systems (e.g., energy, mobility, agri-food) to deliver just, resilient, and more sustainable modes of production and consumption. Transition and transformation, originating from different areas of research, represent far-reaching and systemic change across multiple (e.g., technological, structural, cultural) dimensions, which lead to new patterns of interactions between the society, economy, and the environment and a shift towards more sustainable outcomes (hereafter, in short, referred to as transition to cover both terms).
These transitions are beginning to unfold in some systems and countries (IPCC, 2022) but are generally too slow to start mitigating sustainability problems in time. The 2020s were supposed to be the decade of change, but the window for implementing/realising these changes may be closing (UNEP, 2022a,b).
Research and policy efforts have often focused on stimulating innovation (e.g., technological breakthroughs and new business models) to foster transitions. While harnessing innovation is important in providing the seeds for change, less attention has arguably been given to the resistance of incumbent systems (e.g., because of path dependencies, vested interests, public backlash, sunk capital and investment, policy lags, actor’s strategies) and their transition towards a more sustainable future. We are treating resistance to sustainability transitions a dynamic phenomenon that emerges from the interactions between strategies of actors and the level of support or pressure from other key elements of the system and the environment. System in this context is defined as the configuration of value chain actors and their strategies, technologies, markets, policymaking processes, infrastructure, social networks, institutions, norms, values and natural resources that have co-evolved over decades.
This technical panel report aims to identify and synthesise patterns and underlying mechanisms of resistance and transition in 10 case studies across three systems and six continents, in different phases of the transition lifecycle and with different levels of resistance in incumbent systems. These include the electricity system (i.e., Germany, South Africa, Australia), agri-food system (i.e., USA, Europe, Australia, Brazil), and auto-mobility system (i.e., Germany, Japan, USA).
By synthesising insights across cases, this report will answer two overarching questions:
- What are the recurring patterns of behaviour and underlying root causes that resist sustainability transitions, and how do these manifest across different sectors and geographical contexts?
- What are the key leverage points across the system that can be targeted to overcome resistance and facilitate transitions towards more sustainable futures?
The aim is to develop tangible policy, practice, and research recommendations for addressing regime resistance and enabling transitions to sustainability.
Panel
Co-chairs: Yiheyis Maru (CSIRO); Enayat A. Moallemi (CSIRO); Niki Frantzeskaki (Utrecht University).
Panel members (alphabetical order): Peta Ashworth (Curtin University), Chris Béné (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT), Andrew Bovarnick (UNDP), Jess Cheok (CSIRO), Jessica Fanzo (Columbia University), Beth Fulton (CSIRO), Frank Geels (University of Manchester), Aniek Hebinck (Erasmus University), Gregor Kungl (University of Stuttgart), Steven Lade (Australia National University), Peat Leith (CSIRO), Michelle Miller (CSIRO), Britta Rennkamp (University of Cape Town), Chris Riedy (University Technology Sydney), Angela Rojas Arevalo (CSIRO), Karen Smith Stegen (Constructor University), Mark Stafford-Smith (CSIRO), Gregory Trencher (Kyoto University), Peter Wells (Cardiff University), and Stefanos Xenarios (CSIRO).
References
IPCC, 2022, Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [P.R. Shukla, J. Skea, R. Slade, A. Al Khourdajie, R. van Diemen, D. McCollum, M. Pathak, S. Some, P. Vyas, R. Fradera, M. Belkacemi, A. Hasija, G. Lisboa, S. Luz, J. Malley, (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, UK and New York, NY, USA. doi: 10.1017/9781009157926.
UNEP, 2022a, Emissions Gap Report 2022: The Closing Window – Climate crisis calls for rapid transformation of societies, United Nations Environment Programme, Geneva, Switzerland.
UNEP, 2022b, Adaptation Gap Report 2022: Too Little, Too Slow – Climate adaptation failure puts the world at risk, United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.