Climate Foresight 2025

Figure 7 - Practical, Political and Personal Dimensions for Systemic Change, According to O’Brien (2018) 3. Transformation vs. Point Solutions Achieving long-term, systemic change requires strong systems thinking, which holistically analyzes the intersecting components of systems, instead of point solutions. Kahane (2018) explores the need for systems-wide, holistic change in complex environments to drive impactful shifts. Kahane (2018, 15) emphasizes the n ecessity t o mobilize “autonomous system forces” in the form of “self-organizing networks” to operate in a decentralized, agile, and responsive fashion. This is particularly important in complex environments experiencing much change, which necessitates agile, decentralized networks that promote innovation in such environments (Boulton 2010). Therefore, addressing the climate crisis as a whole requires systemic change, not isolated solutions. For a successfu l e nergy transition, businesses and investors must consider a broad set of stakeholders, partners, and complex ecosystem interactions, raising the bar for viability. Climate Foresight: Transforming the Voluntary Carbon Markets, by Roger Spitz & James Balzer 18 © Disruptive Futures Institute, March 2025