- Global Collaboration Village unveils tipping points hub to help collaborators craft real-world solutions to persistent climate challenges.
- Polar tipping points have the potential to disrupt the Earth’s interconnected systems, leading to stability challenges across geographies.
- Global leaders can come together in the immersive technology space to solve the deepening effects of the climate crisis.
New York, USA, 17 September 2023 – The World Economic Forum introduced a new polar tipping points hub today in its Global Collaboration Village. The purpose-driven platform, which is powered by next-generation technology, will bring global leaders together in the metaverse to solve the deepening effects of the climate and nature crisis. The hub is an immersive virtual reality space and will help confront the pressing issue of climate tipping points, particularly those located in the polar regions.
The launch of the hub coincides with the annual summer sea ice extent minimum in the Arctic, which adds a timely emphasis on the pressing need to address polar warming and climate challenges, and accelerate progress toward reaching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The ability to simulate in real time the tipping points at different temperatures could help drive faster decision-making.
“Breaching the planetary tipping points will bring dire consequences for the interconnected ecosystems that support life on our planet,” said Gim Huay Neo, Managing Director and Head of the Centre for Nature and Climate at the World Economic Forum. “By understanding the drivers and impacts, the global community can respond more effectively to the climate and nature crisis. Through collective action, business and government can innovate, mitigate and adapt to the risks associated with global temperature rise and the resulting tipping points in the polar regions, and beyond.”
Highlighting the urgency of polar warming
Human-induced warming, as the world approaches and surpasses a 1.5°C increase, is edging dangerously close to triggering several critical polar tipping points. Among the 16 climate tipping points, six are in particularly precarious states, even with temperature rises below 2°C. Five of these tipping points are located in the polar regions, encompassing both the Arctic and Antarctic. This situation has far-reaching global implications.
The nexus of polar tipping points, with the potential to disrupt interconnected Earth systems, can lead to stability challenges across geographies. This includes the albedo effect, which relates to the reflectivity of surfaces. High albedo reflects more sunlight, while low absorbs, which has an impact on climate and temperature. In other words, the whiteness of the snow and ice layer reflects heat away from the Earth and prevents it from warming the oceans and land (including permafrost) even more. This albedo effect is declining due to polar ice and snow loss.
There is also a long-term linear relationship between carbon dioxide emissions caused by human activity and Arctic sea ice decline, which means that, as emissions increase, sea ice will continue to decline. The decline is accelerating global vulnerabilities like extreme weather, heat stress, compromised food and water security, climate migration and disruptions in supply chains.
An evolving platform for visualization and collaboration
From within the Global Collaboration Village, a World Economic Forum initiative in partnership with Accenture and Microsoft, the Polar Tipping Points Hub offers an immersive experience that allows collaborators to visualize the ramifications of polar warming on Earth’s intricate systems. Through a monitoring station, visitors gain a deeper insight into three of the five pivotal polar tipping points that become precarious if temperatures rise by 1.5°C or beyond.
This initiative serves the dual purpose of enhancing awareness and facilitating cross-sectoral collaboration among Village partners and existing Forum communities. The hub is a work in progress, continually incorporating new data to ensure it remains at the forefront of polar and climate research.
“At the World Economic Forum, our central mission is to convene stakeholders for collaborative problem-solving, to improve the state of the world,” said Rebecca Ivey, Head of the Global Collaboration Village at the World Economic Forum. “The Village democratizes this process by using immersive technologies that enable us to achieve more, together, even across distances. Our aim is to make these tools accessible to diverse audiences, amplifying their potential to contribute to the betterment of the world. ”
Partnering for a resilient future
The Polar Tipping Points Hub launch aligns closely with the Forum’s commitment to addressing global challenges through concerted initiatives. Compelling virtual immersion into the polar regions will illustrate current warming trends and the consequent cascade of risks, offering a vital tool for comprehending the urgency of unified action.
“The ability to connect and collaborate in shared immersive spaces, spanning distances and devices, can inspire team creativity and outcomes that may otherwise not have been possible,” said Navjot Virk, Vice-President of Microsoft Mesh. “The Global Collaboration Village’s Polar Tipping Points Hub demonstrates how people can leverage immersive experiences built on Microsoft Mesh technology to see and better understand the complex and interconnected challenges of global issues, like climate change.”
“With the Global Collaboration Village’s Polar Tipping Points Hub, citizens, organizations and government representatives have the opportunity to experience and engage with the consequences of climate change, one of the world’s most pressing challenges,” added David Treat, co-lead of Accenture’s Metaverse Continuum business group. “We believe that, by simulating future scenarios, immersive technology can drive a change in perspective while convening stakeholders in new ways to collaborate and shape potential solutions, which is exactly what prompted us to partner with the World Economic Forum for the Global Collaboration Village initiative”.
Collaboration on new and combined data sets from Arctic Basecamp, NASA, the National Snow and Ice Data Center and other institutions has also been instrumental to the development of the hub.
About the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings 2023
The Sustainable Development Impact Meetings 2023 are taking place on 18-22 September in New York. The meetings will reflect on progress made on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and revive momentum for multistakeholder action. More than 600 business leaders, policy-makers, leaders from international and civil society organizations, innovators and social entrepreneurs will come together in person to advance concrete progress on the SDGs.
