4.5.1 Introduction 

Positive tipping dynamics have been, or can potentially be, observed in various sociotechnical and environmental systems. Due to (sometimes) strong interconnections between these systems, a positive tipping intervention can lead to a sequence of secondary impacts across different systems (energy, finance, policy, etc) and scales (individual, national, international) and result in a much larger eventual impact. These cross-system interactions also create cascading feedback mechanisms that can further reinforce the positive feedbacks within those systems and accelerate the tipping dynamics, or vice versa. Therefore, identifying and managing such cascades is necessary to accelerate tipping dynamics and boost the effectiveness of positive tipping interventions towards rapid decarbonisation.

The Industrial Revolution in Britain (ca. 1760-1840) provides archetypal examples of cascading effects across the economy. High wages spurred innovation in the substitution of energy for labour; and innovation in cotton manufacturing triggered much wider applications of machines and the new modes of production. Increasing energy demand spurred innovation in resource extraction, in the energy-efficiency of steam engines, and in a transport network to move heavy materials (e.g. coal, iron). That transport network in turn expanded markets for both heavy and pre-existing lighter (organic) goods. Increasing demand for such goods from a growing middle class drove further investment in innovation, increasing productivity and maintaining economic growth. 

This chapter describes key examples of cascading effects and feedback loops across various sociotechnical (e.g. energy, transport), social-ecological (e.g. agriculture) and socio-political systems. Besides a better understanding of the state and potential of positive tipping, this chapter sheds light on how such tipping dynamics can be triggered by civil society and the private sector, creating the constituency for government-led interventions, and can be managed by limiting negative cascades and inducing positive ones.