500+ pages, 200+ researchers: Global Tipping Points Report delivers comprehensive assessment of tipping point risks and societal opportunities
06.12.2023 - Tipping points pose some of the biggest risks to our planet’s life-support systems and the stability of our societies. In an unprecedented effort by the scientific community, researchers have now published a comprehensive report on Earth system tipping points and their potential impacts and opportunities for societal change. More than 200 scientists from around the world contributed to the ‘Global Tipping Points Report’. The report with more than 500 pages provides an authoritative guide to the state of knowledge on tipping points, explores opportunities for accelerating much needed transformations, and outlines options for a new governance of tipping point risks and opportunities.
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10 New Insights in Climate Science at COP28: Rapid fossil fuels phase-out crucial for minimising 1.5°C overshoot
12/03/2023 - Today, global experts in social and natural sciences have unveiled the annual 10 New Insights in Climate Science report. The report represents the efforts of 67 leading researchers, including several scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), to synthesize the latest insights in climate change research in order to help inform negotiations at the ongoing COP28 and policy implementation through 2024 and beyond.
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Highly Cited: PIK scientists among top 1% of the world's most cited researchers
11/15/2023 – For the sixth year in a row, numerous researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) are among the top 1 percent of the renowned “Highly Cited Researchers” worldwide. The influential ranking, published by Clarivate Analytics' science platform Web of Science, is based on the number of times scientists' papers are cited by other researchers – a very important indicator of scientific relevance. The 2023 edition includes eight PIK researchers from different research departments, also PIK Director Johan Rockström.
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2023 year of record extremes: new report
10/24/2023 – In 2023, anomalies like high temperatures, ocean-warming and more frequent wild fire events have reached unprecedented records until now, shows a new report by an international team of researchers, among them Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The scientists find that these records weaken the Earth’s vital signs and warn that the increasingly frequent occurrences of climate-related could possibly endanger life on Earth by the end of this century if business is continued as usual.
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More interdisciplinary science: Green light for additional institutional funding of PIK
10/19/2023 - From interdisciplinary basic research to scientific policy advice: the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) has received the green light from the committee of the Joint Science Conference (Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz, GWK) of the German federal and state governments for its plans to expand the institute. The additional institutional funding will strengthen its expertise topics by securing investment for three cutting edge and so far little-researched topics. At the same time, the integration of the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) will establish a policy research hub at the interface between research and policy from 2025 onward.
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A full picture of planetary resilience: All boundaries mapped out, six of nine crossed
09/13/2023 - For the first time, an international team of scientists is able to provide a detailed outline of planetary resilience by mapping out all nine boundary processes that define a safe operating space for humanity. From global warming to the biosphere and deforestation, from pollutants & plastic to nitrogen cycles and freshwater: Six of nine planetary boundaries are being transgressed, while pressure in all those boundary processes is increasing, cutting-edge research published in the journal Science Advances shows.
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Greentech Honorary Award for Johan Rockström
06/21/2023 - Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK, has been awarded the "Special Achievement Award" by the Greentech Festival. The Earth system scientist received the honour for his commitment and leadership in his field.
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A just world on a safe planet: First study quantifying Earth System Boundaries
05/31/2023 - Humans are taking colossal risks with the future of civilization and everything that lives on Earth, a new study published in the journal Nature shows. Developed by an international science commission engaging more than 40 researchers from across the globe, the scientists deliver the first quantification of safe and just Earth system boundaries on a global and local level for several biophysical processes and systems that regulate the state of the Earth system. For the first time, safety and justice for humanity on Earth is assessed and quantified for the same control variables regulating life support and Earth stability. Justice, assessed based on avoiding significant harm to people across the world, leads to more stringent Earth system boundaries. This is extremely challenging, as the Earth Commission concludes that numerous of the safe boundaries are already crossed today.
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Building back better: Resilience means more than bouncing back
05/11/2023 - Adapting to global shocks, transforming and creating new ways of functioning as a society: This is how reshaping a resilient future in the aftermath of a shock should look like, shows a new Nature Sustainability Perspective with PIK Director Johan Rockström.
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PIK expertise on the Petersberg Climate Dialogue
05/04/2023 - Ministers from 40 countries met this week at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in preparation of the next UN Climate Conference COP28 in November. Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), was among the invited speakers at the meeting, which is hosted annually by the German government with the conference presidency. “The Petersberg Climate Dialogue is an important stepping stone for the upcoming COP later this year in Dubai, where the Global Stocktake will be at the heart of international climate negotiations,” explains Rockström.
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Johan Rockström on TIME's 100 Most Influential People List
04/13/2023 - TIME named Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, to the 2023 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
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Water has to become a common good – two new reports show
03/22/2023 - Water overuse and a failure to recognize that countries are interdependent when it comes to the global water cycle has put the world on a path to a potential 40% freshwater supply shortfall by the end of the decade. Water therefore has to be treated as a global common good. This is stated in a report by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) and also in a Nature Commentary – both led by PIK director Johan Rockström and released in the context of the UN Water Conference in New York, the first such meeting in 50 years.
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Planetary boundaries to help policy assessment in climate crisis
03/17/2023 - The concept of planetary boundaries should be included in the cost-benefit analysis of policy pathways, shows a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change MCC.
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Justice key to live within Earth system boundaries
03/02/2023 - To ensure a safe and just future for people, nature and the planet Earth System Boundaries must include justice. That is the result of a new study investigated by international team of scientists from the Earth Commission, amongst them PIK Director Johan Rockström.
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From forest resilience to power grids to loss and damage: PIK Research Days
02/22/2023 - Hot topics were presented in talks and discussed among scientists at the annual ‘Research Days’ of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Virtually all members of the institute gathered for the 2-day exchange, the first one which happened face-to-face after the online-only times of COVID pandemic. Once a year, the entire institute comes together to update one another on its findings, new methods and challenges – and to discuss new frontiers to be investigated.
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Tackling climate threats together: Munich Security Conference and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research cooperate
02/17/2023 - The Munich Security Conference (MSC) and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) are joining forces to tackle threats arising from global heating. Greenhouse gas emissions from coal and oil reached record levels last year, increasing extreme weather events and yield failure risks that can fuel smoldering conflicts in poor countries and contribute to destabilizing societies. To help limit these risks, the leaders of MSC and PIK as champions in their respective fields of expertise now signed a cooperation agreement.
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Science takes centre stage in Davos
01/20/2023 - PIK Director Johan Rockström participated in the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) Meeting 2023 in Davos this week. In a first, science took centre stage in a Davos plenary session with Rockström outlining how climate change impacts economies around the world.
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3 out of 10 climate science papers most referred to in news and social media feature PIK authors
01/06/2023 - In a ranking of climate science papers most referred to in news and social media, no less than 3 out of the top 10 papers feature authors from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The ranking is published by the renowned 'Carbon Brief' newsletter and is based on the papers' so-called Altmetric score. While this metric is certainly not perfect, it is a good indicator to help assess public perception of climate science publications.
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COP27 world climate summit: “Results are not good enough”
11/22/2022 – A COP failure was avoided, but it was only a very moderate success for the climate. While 1.5 as a global goal is still there on paper, COP27 does not offer a concrete plan on how to achieve that. These are, in a nutshell, the assessments by PIK Directors Ottmar Edenhofer and Johan Rockström just after the 27th edition of the world climate summit COP concluded on Sunday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Positive outcomes of the summit include a first-of-its-kind set up of a ‘loss and damage fund’ that shall aim at compensating climate impacts for developing countries.
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Potsdam researchers amongst top 1% most cited worldwide
11/14/2022 - For the fifth year in a row, researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) are among the top 1 percent of the globally most scientifically influential authors. The renowned "Highly Cited" ranking is published once a year by Clarivate Analytics' science platform Web of Science. The ranking is based on the number of times researchers are cited in other academics' works - one of the most important indicators of scientific relevance. Twelve PIK researchers are listed, just like last year, including the institute's directors, and from all research departments.
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World climate summit COP27: Potsdam researchers highlight need for action
11/11/2022 - Climate policy-makers and experts are gathering in Sharm-el-Sheikh at the world climate summit COP27, amongst them researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. The negotiations hosted by the United Nations also make media worldwide reach out to science.
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Fossil fuels threaten health and life: Experts call for massive acceleration of the energy transition
11/03/2022 - The consequences of climate change are one of the greatest health risks of our time. This was stated by the Federal Minister of Health and the President of the German Medical Association together with PIK Director Johan Rockström and the organisation German Climate Change and Health Alliance (KLUG), that had invited to the Federal Press Conference. Together they advocate accelerating the energy transition in Germany and minimising greenhouse gas emissions. The background to this is a recently published report by the leading medical journal The Lancet, which highlights dependence on fossil fuels as a threat to health and life. The experts highlighted the fundamental importance of the report for Germany and what has to follow from it politically and in the German healthcare sector.
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Register now for first Leibniz Network Integrated Earth System Research Conference
10/15/2022 - The first 'Integrated Earth System Research' Conference 2022, organized by the Leibniz Research Network carrying that same name, will take place in Potsdam on November 8th and 9th. Registration will close on 28 October. The meeting is dedicated to scientific advances towards a coherent understanding of the increasing human impacts on the Earth system, their societal consequences, and respective governance challenges. It brings together researchers from the natural, engineering, social sciences and the humanities for targeted dialogue and to intensify research collaboration.
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Nature key for climate-safe future: New Exponential Roadmap Initiative for Natural Climate Solutions
09/19/2022 - The land sector, including agriculture, forestry, & natural land protection & restoration, must reach net zero annual emissions by 2030. This is the result of a new report by Conservation International, in partnership with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the WWF, and the Exponential Roadmap Initiative. The report pinpoints actions needed to turn the land sector from a greenhouse gas source today into a carbon sink by 2050 and lays out a new benchmark: the “Carbon Law for Nature".
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Risk of passing multiple climate tipping points escalates above 1.5°C global warming
09/09/2022 - Multiple climate tipping points could be triggered if global temperature rises beyond 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, according to a major new analysis published in the journal Science. Even at current levels of global heating the world is already at risk of passing five dangerous climate tipping points, and risks increase with each tenth of a degree of further warming. An international research team synthesised evidence for tipping points, their temperature thresholds, timescales, and impacts from a comprehensive review of over 200 papers published since 2008, when climate tipping points were first rigorously defined.
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Considering catastrophe: high-impact, low-probability climate scenarios "dangerously underexplored"
08/02/22 - Researchers call for a new "Climate Endgame" agenda and say far too little work has gone into understanding the mechanisms by which rising temperatures might pose a "catastrophic" risk to society and humanity: For instance if temperature rises are worse than many predict or cause cascades of events we have yet to consider, or indeed both. The world needs to start preparing for the possibility of a "climate endgame", the authors argue in a perspective piece in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences PNAS. Assessing catastrophic risks is necessary in order to have a better chance of preventing them.
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"For a secure climate future": High-ranking guests at 30 years celebration of Potsdam Institute
06/30/2022 - High-ranking guests attended the 30th anniversary celebration of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) - from federal and Brandenburg politicians to a Nobel laureate. The institute, founded in 1992 and now employing a good 400 people, is needed more today than ever before in the worsening climate crisis, speeches said. The PIK Board of Directors thanked politicians as well as the scientists and all employees of PIK for their part in the success story.
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EAT Lancet 2.0 launched
06/03/22 - EAT, the science-based non-profit dedicated to transforming the global food system, in collaboration with its partners the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC), the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Harvard University and OneCGIAR, has kicked-off of the second EAT-Lancet Commission (EAT-Lancet 2.0) on healthy diets from sustainable food systems.
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Experts’ statement calls to acknowledge links between climate change and conflict
04/27/2022 – Relevant leaders in the fields of climate science, peacebuilding and security, amongst them PIK Directors Johan Rockström and Ottmar Edenhofer, have endorsed a joint statement calling for the links between climate change and conflict to inform a broad spectrum of policymaking and programming.
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Planetary boundaries update: freshwater boundary exceeds safe limits
04/26/2022 - A reassessment of the planetary boundary for freshwater indicates that it has now been transgressed, according to an international team of researchers led by the Stockholm Resilience Centre and including the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. This conclusion is due to the inclusion of “green water” – the water available to plants – into the boundary assessment for the first time.
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