The ecological crisis will not wait – we need both research and action now

The climate crisis is accelerating, while political commitment to addressing it is weakening. We urgently need a better understanding of how key societal systems can be transformed in ways that respect planetary boundaries and promote social justice. In this blog post, Johanna Kentala-Lehtonen, Secretary General of the Finnish Expert Panel for Sustainable Development and Vice Chair of the Nessling Foundation’s Board, reflects on the state of the world as the foundation’s general grant call approaches.

Text: Johanna Kentala-Lehtonen

The summer of 2026 certainly brought no shortage of climate news, even though here in Finland our own summer weather remained pleasantly cool and familiarly rainy. Unlike in recent years, this summer we did not experience a single week with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius – and that is a good thing. Such heat has not traditionally been a part of Finnish summers. In the future, however, we will increasingly have to endure it.

This time, the wildfires in France felt particularly close to home. A year ago, our youngest daughter stayed with an exchange family from Saint-Selve, near Bordeaux. The small town lies southeast of Bordeaux, so it has not been directly in the path of the fires this time, but the effects of the heat and wildfires have been felt there as well. I can only imagine what kind of summer our daughter’s host family – and their daughter Manon, who stayed with us in Finland – have experienced this year.

Climate change is no longer a distant threat that will happen to someone else at some point in the distant future. It is here now, unfolding in the heart of Europe. Falling water levels in the Danube and Rhine are hampering energy production and industrial transport, while extreme heat and wildfires continue across Southern Europe. The summer is not yet over, but heatwaves are already estimated to have claimed 20,000 lives in Europe, while wildfires have caused billions of euros in damage. Leaders have held emergency meetings over far fewer deaths and lower costs. Yet no such meeting has been called in response to the climate crisis.

So what should we do? Political responses to the unfolding climate catastrophe have varied both in direction and speed, unfortunately slowing our ability to prevent future problems. In the early 2020s, Europe still appeared to be advancing climate policy rapidly and ambitiously, as the European Green Deal under Ursula von der Leyen’s first Commission accelerated climate and environmental action. In recent years, however, the political focus has shifted towards competitiveness and defence, slowing climate action. The climate catastrophe itself has not slowed down, however, and there is an urgent need for measures to mitigate it.

Research has an important role to play in mitigating climate change and halting biodiversity loss. At the Nessling Foundation, we believe that solving sustainability crises requires both new research and better ways of putting existing knowledge to use. Over the past decades, we have learned a great deal about the underlying causes of these crises and about potential solutions. Yet the knowledge we already have could be used much more effectively in political decision-making. Significant gaps also remain – particularly in our understanding of the systemic solutions needed to overcome these crises, build society on a more sustainable foundation, and restore natural environments to a state where they are no longer under constant threat of collapse as a result of human activity.

The Finnish Expert Panel for Sustainable Development, where I serve as Secretary General, has drawn on the international Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) in structuring its proposals for advancing the sustainability transformation around six key systems. Transformation is needed across all six if our societies and natural environments are to become more viable and capable of sustaining life into the future. These are the economic system, planetary system, wellbeing system, energy system, food system, and urban and regional system. Across all these systems, the sustainability transformation must respect planetary boundaries while also taking human needs and social justice into account.

When it comes to climate change mitigation and adaptation, we need discoveries both large and small. We do not know precisely how close we are to crossing potential tipping points, nor how we could reasonably prepare for them. For example, a major weakening – or even possible collapse – of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, could significantly cool Northern Europe and threaten Finland’s food and energy production. How could we reasonably prepare for such a possibility while simultaneously making the rapid global emissions reductions that are urgently needed?

The technological hubris that has plagued humanity in recent decades shows little sign of diminishing amid accelerating data centre construction and the hype around artificial intelligence. We cannot rely on technology to solve our problems, even though it may have an important supporting role to play. Removing the carbon dioxide already emitted into the atmosphere through human-made technologies would be an enormous undertaking, requiring not only new innovations but also vast amounts of energy. Nature will eventually recover in its own time, but its timescales are incomprehensibly long from the perspective of a human lifetime. None of us alive today, nor even the generations immediately following us, will live to see that recovery in the case of climate change.

This is why we need, above all, changes in our behaviour and in the systems that shape it – starting with the economic system. Reducing overconsumption at both structural and individual levels is one solution that we have not yet seriously pursued. Research has much to contribute here: what kinds of structures support more moderate consumption while enabling a good life for everyone? What kinds of circular economy solutions or structures for working life are needed in a society that is not built around the pursuit of continuous GDP growth, but instead gives equal consideration to natural, human and social capital alongside economic capital? What might a more advanced, better society look like – one in which climate change and biodiversity loss have been successfully addressed?

In its general grant call, the Nessling Foundation is looking for researchers and actors who are tackling questions such as these – questions that are critical to advancing the sustainability transformation. What crucial question are you seeking to answer? Or how could you turn existing research knowledge into action? The general grant call is open from 17 to 28 August 2026. Find out more about whether your project could be eligible for funding here.