Making COP fit for purpose
The Club of Rome has been leading initiatives to call for a reform to the COP process to enable it to deliver real climate action. A group of experts signed an open letter to the UN Secretary General and UNFCCC Executive Secretary suggesting a series of reforms that they believe would help to achieve the Paris Agreement. Through various platforms, The Club of Rome engages in constructive dialogue with the UN system and COP presidency on the topic.
The calls for reform include; focusing on delivery and action, basing discussions on the latest science, smaller more frequent working sessions, including non-state actor solutions and bring in more diverse voices such as indigenous peoples and youth, and accounting for regional differences to ensure a just global transition.
Built Environment
The built environment is at the intersection of the planetary emergencies and social crises that the world is grappling with. There is a pressing need to encourage the revaluation of urban spaces and structures for them to contribute to the creation of more resilient cities and healthy communities, prosperous and thriving within planetary boundaries.
The Club of Rome, in partnership with the Hot or Cool Institute has started a new initiative to explore the role of systems-thinking in the built environment. Our goal is to help elevate the conversation around urban policy and planning, guiding the transition toward sustainable urban systems that promote prosperity and wellbeing within planetary boundaries.
Planetary Peace
In the Anthropocene era, human activities are profoundly impacting our planet’s ecosystems while multiple wars and conflicts threaten global stability. This critical moment demands a renewed focus on peace, as without it, achieving just and sustainable development becomes virtually impossible.
The Club of Rome has initiated a new area of work exploring peace through a broader lens. Our traditional understanding of “peace” has been limited and distorted, shaped by a history dominated by narratives of war. We seek to reimagine peace holistically and will explore the concept of Planetary Peace as a crucial framework for addressing global existential risks in our current age. The initiative aims to advance the global dialogue on peace and sustainability, both in terms of contributing to scholarly discourse and practical action toward a peaceful, sustainable future.
The Systems Transformation Hub
A pioneering venture designed to drive systemic solutions for Europe, The Systems Transformation Hub aims to provide strategic and systematic guidance, supporting the European institutions and Member States in policy analysis, development, policy learning and agile decision support.
The Hub will focus on European policy, yet also on Europe’s relationship with the rest of the world. This Hub emerges from the collaboration of The Club of Rome with four other organisations working on systems change: Metabolic, EIT Climate-KIC, Systemiq, and the World Resources Institute, with an open invitation for others to join.
Planetary Emergency Plan
The Planetary Emergency Plan provides a set of key policy levers to address the cross-cutting challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and human health and wellbeing. Drafted in partnership with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), it outlines a vision of transformation and regeneration; a roadmap for governments and other stakeholders to shift our societies and economies for people, planet and prosperity.
The Planetary Emergency Partnership, initiated by The Club of Rome and PIK with initial partners WWF and Nature4Climate includes over 300 scientists, policymakers, business leaders, youth representatives and NGOs.
Since its launch at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019, the plan has influenced internal discussions on climate, biodiversity, sustainable development and global risks (PDF) and inspired global campaigns and policy efforts.
International Systems Change Compass
A truly green future for Europe can only be achieved by building fair relationships around the world and working towards a just global transition. The International System Change Compass – The Global Implications of Achieving the European Green Deal (2022) report sets out a new paradigm for Europe’s role in the world using insights from the UN International Resource Panel, The Club of Rome reports and additional scientific evidence. It details how the EU can, and should, change its trade, investment and political relationships with low- and lower-middle income countries to support their transition paths in a globalised world.
This followed on from A System Change Compass: Implementing the European Green Deal in a time of recovery (2020), which sets out guiding principles and systemic orientations to help address barriers to a successful rollout of the European Green Deal along all dimensions of the European policy sphere.
Transforming Urban-Rural Food Systems (TURFS)
The Club of Rome has co-created the TURFS Consortium to transform food systems at both local and global levels. Projected to give home to 70% of the world’s population by 2050, cities are an ideal place to begin this transformation. Together with a consortium of civil society organizations – CARE, C40, EAT, GAIN, ICCCAD and WWF, TURFS aims to harness the power of cities in shaping urban-rural food systems and deliver systemic solutions that improve people’s quality of life, the health of the planet and economic prosperity.
TURFS has developed a Strategy for Food Systems Transformation to empower and support cities to improve the way we produce and consume food in urban and rural areas.
