Equity and justice should underpin the discourse on tipping points

Pereira, Laura M.; Gianelli, Ignacio; Achieng, Therezah; Amon, Diva; Archibald, Sally; Arif, Suchinta; Castro, Azucena; Chimbadzwa, Tapiwa Prosper; Coetzer, Kaera; Field, Tracy-Lynn; Selomane, Odirilwe; Sitas, Nadia; Stevens, Nicola; Villasante, Sebastian; Armani, Mohammed; Kimuyu, Duncan M.; Adewumi, Ibukun J.; Lapola, David M.; Obura, David; Pinho, Patricia; Roa-Clavijo, Felipe; Rocha, Juan; Sumaila, U. Rashid

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-341-2024

Articles | Volume 15, issue 2

Article
Peer review
Metrics
Related articles

Articles | Volume 15, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-341-2024

Special issue:

Tipping points in the Anthropocene

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-341-2024

Articles | Volume 15, issue 2

Article
Peer review
Metrics
Related articles

Review

05 Apr 2024

Review |

| 05 Apr 2024

Equity and justice should underpin the discourse on tipping points

Laura M. Pereira, Ignacio Gianelli, Therezah Achieng, Diva Amon, Sally Archibald, Suchinta Arif, Azucena Castro, Tapiwa Prosper Chimbadzwa, Kaera Coetzer, Tracy-Lynn Field, Odirilwe Selomane, Nadia Sitas, Nicola Stevens, Sebastian Villasante, Mohammed Armani, Duncan M. Kimuyu, Ibukun J. Adewumi, David M. Lapola, David Obura, Patricia Pinho, Felipe Roa-Clavijo, Juan Rocha, and U. Rashid Sumaila

Laura M. Pereira

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR

laura.pereira@su.se and laura.pereira@wits.ac.za

Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag X3, WITS, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa

Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

Ignacio Gianelli

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7449-7935

Cross-disciplinary Research Center in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS), Department of Applied Economics, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies (SARAS), Cardenales, Bella Vista, Maldonado, Uruguay

Therezah Achieng

Global Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

Diva Amon

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3044-107X

SpeSeas, D'Abadie, Trinidad and Tobago

Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Sally Archibald

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2786-3976

School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Suchinta Arif

Integrated Fisheries Lab, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Azucena Castro

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1914-7251

Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

Department of Iberian and Latin American Cultures, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

Tapiwa Prosper Chimbadzwa

Wildlife Conservation Action, Harare, Zimbabwe

Kaera Coetzer

Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag X3, WITS, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa

Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Tracy-Lynn Field

School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Odirilwe Selomane

Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Nadia Sitas

Climate and Development Knowledge Network, SouthSouth North, Cape Town, South Africa

Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Nicola Stevens

School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Sebastian Villasante

Cross-disciplinary Research Center in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS), Department of Applied Economics, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Mohammed Armani

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1297-0296

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana

Duncan M. Kimuyu

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6077-4970

Department of Natural Resources, Karatina University, Karatina, Kenya

Ibukun J. Adewumi

Australia National Center for Ocean Resources and Security, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia

Sustainable Development Reform Hub, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

David M. Lapola

Center for Meteorological and Climatic Research Applied to Agriculture (CEPAGRI), University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil

David Obura

CORDIO East Africa, Mombasa, Kenya

Patricia Pinho

Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), Brasilia, Brazil

Felipe Roa-Clavijo

Escuela de Gobierno, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

Juan Rocha

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2322-5459

Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

U. Rashid Sumaila

Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Viewed

Show all Final revised paper only Preprint only

Total article views: 4,882 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)

HTML	PDF	XML	Total	BibTeX	EndNote
4,027	794	61	4,882	56	60

HTML: 4,027
PDF: 794
XML: 61
Total: 4,882
BibTeX: 56
EndNote: 60

Views and downloads (calculated since 11 Jul 2023)

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 11 Jul 2023)

Total article views: 3,929 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)

HTML	PDF	XML	Total	BibTeX	EndNote
3,415	475	39	3,929	41	39

HTML: 3,415
PDF: 475
XML: 39
Total: 3,929
BibTeX: 41
EndNote: 39

Views and downloads (calculated since 05 Apr 2024)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Apr 2024	784	127	14	925
May 2024	209	66	7	282
Jun 2024	201	35	2	238
Jul 2024	336	55	4	395
Aug 2024	352	50	6	408
Sep 2024	184	23	1	208
Oct 2024	245	20	2	267
Nov 2024	249	25	1	275
Dec 2024	201	19	0	220
Jan 2025	195	19	1	215
Feb 2025	203	13	1	217
Mar 2025	256	23	0	279

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 05 Apr 2024)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Apr 2024	784	127	14	925
May 2024	209	66	7	282
Jun 2024	201	35	2	238
Jul 2024	336	55	4	395
Aug 2024	352	50	6	408
Sep 2024	184	23	1	208
Oct 2024	245	20	2	267
Nov 2024	249	25	1	275
Dec 2024	201	19	0	220
Jan 2025	195	19	1	215
Feb 2025	203	13	1	217
Mar 2025	256	23	0	279

Total article views: 953 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)

HTML	PDF	XML	Total	BibTeX	EndNote
612	319	22	953	15	21

HTML: 612
PDF: 319
XML: 22
Total: 953
BibTeX: 15
EndNote: 21

Views and downloads (calculated since 11 Jul 2023)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Apr 2024	784	127	14	925
May 2024	209	66	7	282
Jun 2024	201	35	2	238
Jul 2024	336	55	4	395
Aug 2024	352	50	6	408
Sep 2024	184	23	1	208
Oct 2024	245	20	2	267
Nov 2024	249	25	1	275
Dec 2024	201	19	0	220
Jan 2025	195	19	1	215
Feb 2025	203	13	1	217
Mar 2025	256	23	0	279

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 11 Jul 2023)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Apr 2024	784	127	14	925
May 2024	209	66	7	282
Jun 2024	201	35	2	238
Jul 2024	336	55	4	395
Aug 2024	352	50	6	408
Sep 2024	184	23	1	208
Oct 2024	245	20	2	267
Nov 2024	249	25	1	275
Dec 2024	201	19	0	220
Jan 2025	195	19	1	215
Feb 2025	203	13	1	217
Mar 2025	256	23	0	279

Viewed (geographical distribution)

Show all Final revised paper only Preprint only

Total article views: 4,882 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 4,818 with geography defined and 64 with unknown origin.

Total article views: 3,929 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 3,892 with geography defined and 37 with unknown origin.

Total article views: 953 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 926 with geography defined and 27 with unknown origin.

Country	#	Views	%
United States of America	1	1915	39
United Kingdom	2	325	6
Germany	3	278	5
China	4	219	4
South Africa	5	214	4

Country	#	Views	%
United States of America	1	1667	42
United Kingdom	2	249	6
China	3	200	5
Germany	4	197	5
Sweden	5	134	3

Country	#	Views	%
United States of America	1	248	26
South Africa	2	84	8
Germany	3	81	8
United Kingdom	4	76	7
Canada	5	39	4


Total:	0
HTML:	0
PDF:	0
XML:	0

1
1915

1915


Total:	0
HTML:	0
PDF:	0
XML:	0

1
1667

1667


Total:	0
HTML:	0
PDF:	0
XML:	0

248

Cited

Show all Final revised paper only Preprint only

4 citations as recorded by crossref.

Exploring the diverse values local people associate with marine protected areas and the implications for sustainable ocean management S. Kageyama et al. 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2024.107523
A positive deviance approach to understand gender relations and practices that support transformative adaptation: Insights from Kenya dairy households R. Bullock et al. 10.1016/j.crsust.2025.100280
Reflecting on the Science of Climate Tipping Points to Inform and Assist Policy Making and Address the Risks they Pose to Society T. Stocker et al. 10.1007/s10712-024-09844-w
Negative social tipping dynamics resulting from and reinforcing Earth system destabilization V. Spaiser et al. 10.5194/esd-15-1179-2024

4 citations as recorded by crossref.

Exploring the diverse values local people associate with marine protected areas and the implications for sustainable ocean management S. Kageyama et al. 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2024.107523
A positive deviance approach to understand gender relations and practices that support transformative adaptation: Insights from Kenya dairy households R. Bullock et al. 10.1016/j.crsust.2025.100280
Reflecting on the Science of Climate Tipping Points to Inform and Assist Policy Making and Address the Risks they Pose to Society T. Stocker et al. 10.1007/s10712-024-09844-w
Negative social tipping dynamics resulting from and reinforcing Earth system destabilization V. Spaiser et al. 10.5194/esd-15-1179-2024

Discussed (preprint)

Latest update: 29 Mar 2025

Download

Article (462 KB)
Full-text XML

BibTeX
EndNote
Included in Encyclopedia of Geosciences

Short summary

Narratives around tipping points, such as the need for positive tipping points in energy transitions to avoid negative Earth system tipping points, do not take into account the entire spectrum of impacts the proposed interventions could have or still rely on narratives that maintain current unsustainable behaviours and marginalize many people. We unpack these ideas in the context of what they mean for the concept of tipping points, using a critical decolonial view from the Global South.

Narratives around tipping points, such as the need for positive tipping points in energy...

Special issue

Tipping points in the Anthropocene

Altmetrics

Final-revised paper

Preprint