The polycrisis

Key points from expert talk

• The polycrisis is driven by ecological overshoot. Climate change is one symptom of a broader crisis caused by humanity exceeding the Earth’s ecological limits.
• Climate change is only part of the challenge. Most planetary boundary breaches are unrelated to climate change, highlighting the need for policies that address biodiversity loss, pollution, freshwater decline and other interconnected crises.
• Modern food production depends on fossil fuels. Industrial agriculture relies on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser made from fossil gas, making current food systems environmentally unsustainable. 
• Human activity is driving unprecedented biodiversity loss. Habitat destruction, intensive agriculture and resource extraction have caused rapid declines in wildlife populations and accelerated species extinctions. 
• Freshwater systems are in crisis. Water scarcity, pollution and nitrate contamination threaten ecosystems, drinking water supplies and human health in New Zealand and globally. 
• Industrial food systems consume way more energy than they produce. Fossil fuel dependence has turned food production from an energy-positive to an energy-negative system, which is not sustainable. 
• Resource use and waste have exceeded sustainable limits. Human-made materials now exceed all living biomass, while large quantities of food, water, energy and raw materials are wasted. 
• Economic growth is closely linked to environmental harm. GDP growth is  a measure of higher energy use, resource extraction and ecological degradation. 
• Environmental impacts are distributed unequally. High-income populations are responsible for most global environmental damage, while lower-income populations bear a disproportionate share of the consequences. 
• Decarbonisation alone will not solve the polycrisis. Reducing emissions is essential, but addressing ecological overshoot requires tackling the wider drivers of environmental degradation.