Global-to-local-to-global interactions and climate change

Abstract

Climate change by its very nature epitomizes the necessity and usefulness of the globalto-
local-to-global (GLG) paradigm. It is a global problem with the potential to affect local
communities and ecosystems. Accumulation of local impacts and responses to climate change
feeds back to regional and global systems creating feedback loops. Understanding these complex
impacts and interactions is key to developing more resilient adaptation measures and
designing more efficient mitigation policies. To this date, however, GLG interactions have
not yet been an integrative part of the decision-support toolkit. The typical approach either
traces the impacts of global action on the local level or estimates the implications of local
policies at the global scale. The first approach misses cumulative feedback of local responses
that can have regional, national or global impacts. In the second case, one undermines a
global context of the local actions most likely misrepresenting the complexity of the local
decision-making process. Potential interactions across scales are further complicated by the
presence of cascading impacts, connected risks and tipping points. Capturing these dimensions
is not always a straightforward task and often requires a departure from conventional
modeling approaches. In this paper, we review the state-of-the-art approaches to modeling
GLG interactions in the context of climate change. We further identify key limitations
that drive the lack of GLG coupling cases and discuss what could be done to address these
challenges.

Focus on global–local–global analysis of sustainability

“…In reviewing the future research agendas laid out by the authors in this special issue, it is clear that there is great scope for increasing the complexity of GLG analysis. Baldos et al (2023) highlight the need for capturing likely tipping points through more elaborate biophysical modeling. Cultice et al (2023) emphasize the need for explicit modeling of spatial equilibria.…”

“…Climate change is an important global driver that impinges on land and water sustainability at local levels. The synthesis paper in this issue by Baldos et al (2023) points out that the global to local connection is generally well covered in the climate impacts literature. However, they highlight the need for improved analysis of local and global tipping points whereby the climate-or socio-economic-system shifts into a different regime.…”

Plant-mycorrhizal interactions and their role in plant invasions in mountains

“…Humans are everywhere, and everywhere they alter their surroundings in different ways, be it through land-use change, through pollution or through the introduction of disruptive non-native species (Balvanera et al, 2019). If we want to tackle the challenges posed by global change, we will need to not only tackle the large, global, and systemic issues that are increasingly being recognized, but also address these issues at the regional and local levels (Baldos et al, 2023;Hertel et al, 2019). In this light, a good understanding of the mechanisms of anthropogenic change and their implications across diverse ecosystems is paramount in managing and ultimately addressing the consequences of the Anthropocene.…”