About Information Booklet

This information booklet is part of a series of resources that will support the learning and deliberation phase of the Global Assembly. The purpose of these learning materials is to provide information and data so that you can form your own opinions on the climate and ecological crisis.

Our hope is that this information booklet is a springboard to ongoing lines of inquiry that you will follow for perhaps years to come; and we actively encourage you to challenge any elements contained within and bring those questions or conclusions to the Global Assembly.

The climate and ecological crisis is a complex topic and the result of many interconnected historical, social, economic and political factors. Although it can sometimes seem like a very modern problem, the roots of it go back many generations and at least two centuries.

This booklet is an introduction to some of the most important themes related to the climate and ecological crisis. To create these materials, a committee of experts was brought together to contribute their knowledge and wisdom. Details about the drafting process of this information booklet is available below.

There are many windows into the climate and ecological crisis and we have done the best we can to give a snapshot into the dominant themes, facts, and figures in a way that is concise and readable.

There is no pressure to read it all in one go. It is intended as a reference guide, and we hope it will be useful for you in your engagement with the Global Assembly, to support your learning and deliberation on the climate and ecological crisis.

To complement this information booklet, further resources such as: videos, animated presentations, artistic creations and testimonials of lived experience will be available on the Global Assembly website.

Contextualization and translation of this information booklet in several languages is available on this wiki on Contextualized and Translated Versions

Drafting Process

• The Global Assembly’s Knowledge and Wisdom Committee led the writing process of this information booklet. The purpose of the committee is to ensure that the Global Assembly’s learning phase is rooted in evidence.

• This committee chose the framing question that the Assembly will be deliberating on, as well the content of this information booklet. They have also led the selection of the speakers and witnesses presenting at the Global Assembly.

• The members of the committee have expertise in: Earth Systems Science, Systems Change, Engineering & geology, Indigenous knowledge, Ecology, Climate Science, Environmental Economics, Climate Adaptation & Vulnerable countries, Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology.

• The committee is chaired by Professor Bob Watson, former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and former Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

• The members of the committee are:
  • Dr. Nafeez Ahmed, System Shift Lab, UK
  • Dr. Stuart Capstick, Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformation, Cardiff University, Wales
  • Professor Purnamita Dasgupta, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi
  • Professor Saleemul Huq, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), Bangladesh
  • Jyoti Ma (USA) & Mindahi Bastida Munoz (Mexico), The Fountain, Sacred Economics, Indigenous Wisdom Keepers
  • Professor Michael N. Oti, Petroleum Geology, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
  • Professor Julia Steinberger, Ecological Economics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
• This information booklet went through twelve iterations. It was written by journalist Tarn Rogers Johns with guidance and feedback from Claire Mellier. It was sub edited by Nathalie Marchant.  
• Feedback on the drafts was provided by:
  • Lydia Massling and Will Bugler, climate communication specialists from consultancy group Willis Towers Watson.
  • Global Assembly Lab partners