Actions and actors driving transformative change for global sustainability

This study examines the actions and societal actors associated with transformative change for global sustainability, drawing on evidence from the IPBES Transformative Change Assessment and a bibliometric analysis of more than four million scholarly publications. The research evaluates how sustainability literature addresses the actions, strategies, and actors considered necessary to tackle the interconnected crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Results reveal that scholarly attention is concentrated on a limited set of actions and actors, particularly technological change, changing social norms, the scientific community, educational institutions, and business actors, while actions related to economic and governance transformation, as well as the roles of civil society organizations and public-sector actors, receive comparatively little attention. The analysis further shows that interactions between actions and actors are rarely explored systematically, with most actor–action combinations occurring no more frequently than expected by chance. The findings suggest that such imbalances may constrain the development of coordinated, cross-sectoral approaches required for transformative change. The study calls for more inclusive and interdisciplinary research that better reflects diverse knowledge systems, governance approaches, and societal actors, while strengthening understanding of how different actors and actions interact to promote equitable and sustainable futures.

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