Understanding the materiality of biodiversity tipping points and using it to enable positive action in the boardroom. (Ref:4654)

生物圈和生态系统是复杂的适应系统，充满了相互作用的反馈环路，有时可能会出现临界点，在这些临界点上，强迫的微小变化会导致系统状态的突然变化，而这种变化很难逆转。随着全球变化，对生物多样性和我们从中获得的好处有害的临界点的风险正在升级。这种风险既包括大规模的转折点，例如珊瑚礁或亚马逊雨林的枯萎，也包括较小规模的转折点，例如土地的突然退化或鱼类种群的丧失。同样，对于退化的生态系统来说，也有机会出现生物多样性突然增加的积极转折点。企业和金融开始努力应对生物多样性的财务重要性，但他们是在线性思维框架下这样做的，该框架尚未纳入临界点变化的可能性。该博士项目将开发一个框架来评估生物多样性临界点的重要性，例如，根据依赖于相应生态系统的行业的财务价值。其目的将是探索突发性、自发性变化和不可逆转性等临界点特征如何改变对重要性(包括金融风险和机会)的评估。学生将从事框架的一系列案例研究应用，范围从固有的大规模临界点，如亚马逊雨林死亡点，到可能在许多地方发生的局部临界点，如突然的土地退化，到积极临界点的机会，如热带森林再生。其目的有两个：为用于评估相关金融风险和机会的工具提供信息，并探索在董事会中采取积极行动的潜力。对于后者，将开发一系列基于证据的临界点叙述，并测试其有效性。博士学位将是跨学科的，涉及相关学科，并涉及以行动为导向的与J.O.汉布罗资本管理公司共同创造知识。

The biosphere and ecosystems are complex adaptive systems, full of interacting feedback loops, which can sometimes exhibit tipping points where a small change in forcing causes an abrupt change in the state of the system that is hard to reverse. The risk of tipping points that are detrimental to biodiversity and the benefits we derive from it is escalating with global change. This risk includes both large-scale tipping points e.g. dieback of coral reefs or the Amazon rainforest, and smaller-scale tipping points e.g. abrupt land degradation, or loss of fish stocks. Equally for degraded ecosystems there are opportunities for positive tipping points of abrupt biodiversity gain. Businesses and finance are beginning to grapple with the financial materiality of biodiversity, but they are doing so in a linear thinking framework that has yet to incorporate the potential for tipping point changes.This PhD project will develop a framework to assess the materiality of biodiversity tipping points, e.g. in terms of the financial value of the industries dependent on the corresponding ecosystems. The aim will be to explore how the tipping point qualities of abruptness, self-propelling change and irreversibility alter the assessment of materiality (both of financial risks and opportunities). The student will undertake a series of case study applications of the framework ranging from inherently large-scale tipping points e.g. Amazon rainforest dieback, to local tipping points that may occur in many places e.g. abrupt land degradation, to opportunities for positive tipping points, e.g. tropical forest regeneration. The aim is twofold: to inform tools being used to assess associated financial risks and opportunities, and to explore the potential to enable positive action in the boardroom. For the latter, a series of evidence-based tipping points narratives will be developed, and their effectiveness tested. The PhD will be transdisciplinary - spanning relevant disciplines and involving action-oriented co-production of knowledge with J.O. Hambro capital management.