Interventions for
rapid global change
Interventions for Rapid Global Change
The Cascade Institute is a Canadian research center that addresses the full range of humanity’s converging environmental, economic, political, technological, and health crises. Using advanced methods to map and model complex global systems, we identify and help implement high-leverage interventions that could rapidly shift humanity’s course towards fair and sustainable prosperity.
Canada’s thawing permafrost should be raising alarm bells in the battle against climate change
Globe and Mail article by Thomas Homer-Dixon and Duane Froese
Meeting Canada’s climate commitments requires ending supports for oil and gas production
A Cascade Institute Technical Paper by Angela Carter and Truzaar Dordi
Modern Monetary Theory is the new black, but we should brace for seeing red
Globe and Mail article by Michael Lawrence and Thomas Homer-Dixon
RECENT RESEARCH
Pension funds and the post-pandemic economy: A shift to bold climate leadership
Scott Janzwood
February 23, 2021 • This Brief analyzes the impact of the pandemic on pension funds and presents strategies for organizations, activists, and researchers to accelerate pension fund leadership on climate change.
Network dynamics of the pandemic shock: Three network shifts and why they matter
Jinelle Piereder
January 11, 2021 • This Brief analyzes three major shifts in humanity’s networks that the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered or accelerated: (1) network centralization, (2) network fragmentation and reconfiguration, and (3) network formation. It then examines the impact of these shifts across economic, food, information, and governance systems.
The Roubini Cascade: Are we heading for a Greater Depression?
Michael Lawrence & Thomas Homer-Dixon
December 4, 2020 • This Brief develops a system map of Nouriel Roubini’s argument that the world is heading into a Greater Depression. It uses this visualization to highlight crucial features of his prediction.
Correcting Canada’s “one eye shut” climate policy
Angela V. Carter and Truzaar Dordi
April 15, 2021 • This paper shows how growing oil and gas production is impeding Canada from meeting its climate commitments, outlines how the federal government is now supporting oil and gas production growth, and recommends specific policies the federal government could adopt in the near-term to begin a phase out of oil and gas production.
Pension funds at a crossroads: Incremental greening or bold climate leadership?
Scott Janzwood
February 23, 2021 • This paper investigates the forces constraining pension funds from taking a bolder leadership role in the net-zero carbon energy transition. It presents strategies for organizations, activists, and researchers to accelerate pension fund leadership on a timescale that is commensurate with the urgency of the climate crisis.
