3.4.1.1 Knowledge needs

Responding effectively to the current and future risks associated with Earth system tipping processes requires governance actors to leverage dynamic knowledge production systems for political decision making, policy and institutional design. The mobilisation of the ‘best available knowledge’ is recognised in the Paris Agreement (Article 7.5), encouraging interactions between different knowledge systems for enhancing climate resilience and effective adaptation. 

Governance actors need to develop and frequently update a thorough and actionable understanding of Earth system tipping processes, their characteristics, differences, and likely implications for societies. Such an understanding should be based on, and evolve with, scientific information, but also other forms of knowledge, beliefs and values that contribute to meaning making. The knowledge needed to support future governance efforts should be specific for diverse actors, taking into consideration the scale and context of needed action. Hence, effective science-policy interactions at all of these scales are crucial for the adaptive, multi-scale and anticipatory governance of Earth system tipping processes.

Knowledge and continuous learning are integral to the capacities needed to anticipate and prevent harmful tipping points in the Earth system. Other capacities needed include systems thinking (conceiving of and governing the Earth as a complex interconnected system), imagination (envisioning possible futures, including pathways and solutions to address challenges related to Earth system tipping) and institutional entrepreneurship (creating initiatives within existing institutions or establishing new ones to help anticipate and prevent ESTPs). Science-policy institutions rarely focus on these capacities, and most political and knowledge institutions do not provide incentives to invest in their development.