Earth System Science for Global Sustainability: The Grand Challenges

Update: The Grand Challenges featured in a new Science Policy Forum article

In an article in the 12 November issue of Science, the Visioning team discusses the Grand Challenges in Earth system science for global sustainability. The authors also call for an unprecedented global initiative to deliver the knowledge society needs to simultaneously reduce global environmental risks while also meeting economic development goals. Access the article here (no registration required): [Summary]; [Full Text]; [PDF]

‘Earth System Science for Global Sustainability: The Grand Challenges’ is the outcome of Step 1’s online consultation and Visioning Earth Systems Research Meeting in September 2009.

The document proposes a focused global research initiative centered on five Grand Challenges that must be addressed over the next decade if society is to manage the global environmental change that is now underway and cope with the change that we cannot manage.

The five ‘grand challenges’ proposed encompass:

• Forecasting: improve the usefulness of forecasts of future environmental conditions and their consequences for people
• Observing: develop, enhance and integrate the observation systems needed to manage global and regional environmental change
• Confining: determine how to anticipate, avoid and manage disruptive global environmental change
• Responding: determine what institutional, economic and behavioral changes can enable effective steps toward global sustainability
• Innovating: encourage innovation (coupled with sound mechanisms for evaluation) in developing technological, policy, and social responses to achieve global sustainability

Each challenge has priority research questions and expected deliverables.

The Grand Challenges document was submitted to the global scientific community for comments through an online survey between 21 December 2009 - 21 February 2010.