• IPBES. Summary for Policymakers. In The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (eds Díaz, S. et al.) (IPBES, 2019).

  • Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (CBD, 2022); https://www.cbd.int/gbf

  • IPBES. Summary for Policymakers. In The Thematic Assessment Report on the Underlying Causes of Biodiversity Loss and the Determinants of Transformative Change and Options for Achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity (eds O’Brien, K. et al.) (IPBES, 2024).

  • Buckton, S. J. et al. The regenerative lens: a conceptual framework for regenerative social-ecological systems. One Earth 6, 824–842 (2023).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Fischer, J. et al. Mainstreaming regenerative dynamics for sustainability. Nat. Sustain. 7, 964–972 (2024).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Geels, F. W., Kern, F. & Clark, W. C. System transitions research and sustainable development: challenges, progress, and prospects. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2206230120 (2023).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Reyes-García, V. et al. Transforming the economic landscape for global sustainability. Ecol. Soc. 30, 2 (2025).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Ceddia, M. G. The super-rich and cropland expansion via direct investments in agriculture. Nat. Sustain. 3, 312–318 (2020).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Armitage, D., Mbatha, P., Muhl, E.-K., Rice, W. & Sowman, M. Governance principles for community-centered conservation in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Conserv. Sci. Pract. 2, e160 (2020).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • West, S., Haider, L. J., Stålhammar, S. & Woroniecki, S. A relational turn for sustainability science? Relational thinking, leverage points and transformations. Ecosyst. People 16, 304–325 (2020).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Andersen, A. D., Geels, F. W., Steen, M. & Bugge, M. M. Building multi-system nexuses in low-carbon transitions: conflicts and asymmetric adjustments in Norwegian ferry electrification. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2207746120 (2023).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Geels, F. W. Socio-technical transitions to sustainability: a review of criticisms and elaborations of the multi-level perspective. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 39, 187–201 (2019).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Loorbach, D., Frantzeskaki, N. & Avelino, F. Sustainability transitions research: transforming science and practice for societal change. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 42, 599–626 (2017).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Marquardt, J. Conceptualizing power in multi-level climate governance. J. Clean. Prod. 154, 167–175 (2017).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Schiller, K. J. F., Klerkx, L., Centeno, D. J. S. & Poortvliet, P. M. Developing the agroecological niche in Nicaragua: the roles of knowledge flows and intermediaries. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2206195120 (2023).

  • Feola, G. Societal transformation in response to global environmental change: a review of emerging concepts. Ambio 44, 376–390 (2015).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Scoones, I. et al. Transformations to sustainability: combining structural, systemic and enabling approaches. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 42, 65–75 (2020).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Avelino, F. & Wittmayer, J. M. Shifting power relations in sustainability transitions: a multi-actor perspective. J. Environ. Policy Plan. 18, 628–649 (2016).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Kivimaa, P., Boon, W., Hyysalo, S. & Klerkx, L. Towards a typology of intermediaries in sustainability transitions: a systematic review and a research agenda. Res. Policy 48, 1062–1075 (2019).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Reyes-García, V. et al. Indigenous peoples and local communities as agents of transformative change for sustainability. Commun. Earth Environ. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-03098-z (2026).

  • Walter, M. et al. Social movements are transformative agents for biodiversity conservation. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2513327123 (2026).

  • Köhler, J. et al. An agenda for sustainability transitions research: state of the art and future directions. Environ. Innov. Soc. Trans. 31, 1–32 (2019).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Krug, R. M. Transformative change assessment TCA Corpus data package. Zenodo https://zenodo.org/records/11447008 (2025).

  • Scheidel, A. et al. Environmental conflicts and defenders: a global overview. Glob. Environ. Change 63, 102104 (2020).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Apostolopoulou, E. et al. Radical social innovations and the spatialities of grassroots activism: navigating pathways for tackling inequality and reinventing the commons. J. Polit. Ecol. 29, 144–188 (2022).


    Google Scholar
     

  • Pahl-Wostl, C., Becker, G., Knieper, C. & Sendzimir, J. How multilevel societal learning processes facilitate transformative change: a comparative case study analysis on flood management. Ecol. Soc. 18, 58 (2013).

  • Stinus, C., Shankland, R. & Berjot, S. Connectedness to humanity and connectedness to nature as a leverage point for eco and socio-responsible consumption. Curr. Psychol. 43, 30429–30445 (2024).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Nyborg, K. et al. Social norms as solutions. Science 354, 42–43 (2016).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Abson, D. J. et al. Leverage points for sustainability transformation. Ambio 46, 30–39 (2017).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Supran, G. & Oreskes, N. Rhetoric and frame analysis of ExxonMobil’s climate change communications. One Earth 4, 696–719 (2021).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Oreskes, N. & Conway, E. M. Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming (Bloomsbury, 2010).

  • Smith, A., Voß, J. P. & Grin, J. Innovation studies and sustainability transitions: the allure of the multi-level perspective and its challenges. Res. Policy 39, 435–448 (2010).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Crona, B., Folke, C. & Galaz, V. The Anthropocene reality of financial risk. One Earth 4, 618–628 (2021).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Tracking Economic Instruments and Finance for Biodiversity (OECD, 2021); https://www.oecd.org/environment/resources/biodiversity/tracking-economic-instruments-and-finance-for-biodiversity-2021.pdf

  • Reyes-García, V. et al. The costs of subsidies and externalities of economic activities driving nature decline. Ambio 54, 1128–1141 (2025).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Lamine, C. & Marsden, T. Unfolding sustainability transitions in food systems: insights from UK and French trajectories. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2206231120 (2023).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Wells, P. E. System confluence and the reinvention of automobility. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2206233119 (2023).

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Upadhyay, A., Mukhuty, S., Kumar, V. & Kazancoglu, Y. Blockchain technology and the circular economy: implications for sustainability and social responsibility. J. Clean. Prod. 293, 126130 (2021).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Sánchez-García, E., Martínez-Falcó, J., Marco-Lajara, B. & Manresa-Marhuenda, E. Revolutionizing the circular economy through new technologies: a new era of sustainable progress. Environ. Technol. Innov. 33, 103509 (2024).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Das, O., Zafar, M. H., Sanfilippo, F., Rudra, S. & Kolhe, M. L. Advancements in digital twin technology and machine learning for energy systems: a comprehensive review of applications in smart grids, renewable energy, and electric vehicle optimisation. Energy Convers. Manag. X 24, 100715 (2024).


    Google Scholar
     

  • Kopka, A. & Grashof, N. Artificial intelligence: catalyst or barrier on the path to sustainability?. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change 175, 121318 (2022).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Sen, A. Totally radical: from transformative research to transformative innovation. Sci. Public Policy 41, 344–358 (2014).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Pentland, B. T., Yoo, Y., Recker, J. & Kim, I. From Lock-in to transformation: a path-centric theory of emerging technology and organizing. Organ. Sci. 33, 194–211 (2021).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Ryan, P. Technocracy,’ democracy … and corruption and trust. Policy Sci. 51, 131–139 (2018).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Rajão, R. et al. The risk of fake controversies for Brazilian environmental policies. Biol. Conserv. 266, 109447 (2022).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Orlove, B. et al. Placing diverse knowledge systems at the core of transformative climate research. Ambio 52, 1431–1447 (2023).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Frantzeskaki, N., McPhearson, T. & Kabisch, N. Urban sustainability science: prospects for innovations through a system’s perspective, relational and transformations’ approaches: this article belongs to Ambio’s 50th Anniversary Collection. Ambio 50, 1650–1658 (2021).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Li, G. et al. Mixed effectiveness of global protected areas in resisting habitat loss. Nat. Commun. 15, 8389 (2024).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Massarella, K. et al. Transformation beyond conservation: how critical social science can contribute to a radical new agenda in biodiversity conservation. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 49, 79–87 (2021).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Zhang, Y. et al. Governance and conservation effectiveness in protected areas and indigenous and locally managed areas. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 48, 559–588 (2023).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Takeuchi, K. Rebuilding the relationship between people and nature: the Satoyama Initiative. Ecol. Res. 25, 891–897 (2010).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Tedesco, A. M. et al. The role of incentive mechanisms in promoting forest restoration. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 378, 20210088 (2023).

  • Piñeiro, V. et al. A scoping review of incentives for adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and their outcomes. Nat. Sustain. 3, 809–820 (2020).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Addison, P. F. E., Bull, J. W. & Milner-Gulland, E. J. Using conservation science to advance corporate biodiversity accountability. Conserv. Biol. 33, 307–318 (2019).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • van Oorschot, M., van Tulder, R. & Kok, M. Business for Biodiversity: Mobilising Business Towards Net Positive Impact (PBL, 2020).

  • Wirba, A. V. Corporate social responsibility (CSR): the role of government in promoting CSR. J. Knowl. Econ. 15, 7428–7454 (2024).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Xu, Y., Li, S., Zhou, X., Shahzad, U. & Zhao, X. How environmental regulations affect the development of green finance: recent evidence from polluting firms in China. Renew. Energy 189, 917–926 (2022).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Fisher, D. R. & Nasrin, S. Climate activism and its effects. WIREs Clim. Change 12, e683 (2021).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Swilling, M. The Age of Sustainability: Just Transitions in a Complex World (Routledge, Taylor & Francis, 2020).

  • Grewal, J., Serafeim, G. & Yoon, A. S. Shareholder Activism on Sustainability Issues (SSRN, 2016); https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2805512

  • Alda, M. Corporate sustainability and institutional shareholders: the pressure of social responsible pension funds on environmental firm practices. Bus. Strategy Environ. 28, 1060–1071 (2019).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Falcone, P. M. & Sica, E. in Sustainable Finance and the Global Health Crisis (eds Falcone, P. M. & Sica, E.) Ch. 3 (Routledge, Taylor & Francis, 2023).

  • Kölbel, J. F., Heeb, F., Paetzold, F. & Busch, T. Can sustainable investing save the world? Reviewing the mechanisms of investor impact. Organ. Environ. 33, 554–574 (2020).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Galaz, V., Crona, B., Dauriach, A., Scholtens, B. & Steffen, W. Finance and the Earth system—exploring the links between financial actors and non-linear changes in the climate system. Glob. Environ. Change 53, 296–302 (2018).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Folke, C. et al. Transnational corporations and the challenge of biosphere stewardship. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 3, 1396–1403 (2019).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Jouffray, J. B., Crona, B., Wassénius, E., Bebbington, J. & Scholtens, B. Leverage points in the financial sector for seafood sustainability. Sci. Adv. 5, eaax3324 (2019).

  • Armitage, D., De Loë, R. & Plummer, R. Environmental governance and its implications for conservation practice. Conserv. Lett. 5, 245–255 (2012).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Gill, D. A. et al. Triple exposure: reducing negative impacts of climate change, blue growth, and conservation on coastal communities. One Earth 6, 118–130 (2023).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Blythe, J. L. et al. Blue justice: a review of emerging scholarship and resistance movements. Camb. Prism. 1, e15 (2023).


    Google Scholar
     

  • Krug, R. & Reyes-García, V. Supplementary material to ‘Actions and actors driving transformative change for global sustainability’. Zenodo https://zenodo.org/records/14712029 (2025)

  • Hasse, R. What difference does it make? An institutional perspective on actors and types thereof. Res. Sociol. Organ. 58, 23–41 (2019).


    Google Scholar
     

  • Park, M. S. et al. in Thematic Assessment Report on the Sustainable Use of Wild Species (eds Fromentin, J. M. et al.) Ch. 6 (IPBES, 2022).

  • Kelemen, E. et al. in Methodological Assessment Report on the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature (eds Balvanera, P. et al.) Ch. 6 (IPBES, 2022).

  • Razzaque, J. et al. in Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (eds Brondizio, E., Diaz, S. & Settele, J.) Ch. 6 (IPBES, 2019).

  • Report of the Second Indigenous and Local Knowledge Dialogue Workshop on the IPBES Assessment of Transformative Change and Scenarios of the Future: Reviewing the First Draft of the Assessment (IPBES, 2023); https://files.ipbes.net/ipbes-web-prod-public-files/2023-08/IPBES_TfC_2ndILKDialogue_Report_Final_ForWeb.pdf

  • Díaz, S. et al. The IPBES conceptual framework—connecting nature and people. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sustain. 14, 1–16 (2015).

    Article 

    Google Scholar
     

  • Comments are closed.