Drivers and Feedback Loops of the Triple Planetary Crisis

Drivers and Feedback Loops of the Triple Planetary Crisis

Infographic Series

Publication: Infographic
Citation: Umweltbundesamt 2025: Drivers and feedback loops of the triple planetary crisis. Infographic.

Climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution are deeply interconnected and reinforce one another. This infographic, based on the report "The Interconnected Challenges of Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Environmental Pollution: Drivers, Interdependencies and Impacts of the Triple Planetary Crisis", illustrates the main human-driven causes of the triple planetary crisis and the feedback loops that intensify its impacts.

Download the infographic series on the triple planetary crisis:

The infographics are part of the UBA publications on the triple planetary crisis. Published under a CC BY 4.0 license, they may be shared and adapted provided that the source is credited. We encourage their use and dissemination to support a better understanding of the systemic drivers, impacts and solution pathways of the triple planetary crisis in policy, research and practice.

This infographic illustrates the main human-driven causes of the triple planetary crisis and the feedback loops that intensify its impacts.

Contact

Doris Knoblauch

Coordinator Resource Conservation & Circular Economy

Co-Coordinator Plastics

Senior Fellow

Impacts of the Triple Planetary Crisis on Human and Ecosystem Health

Infographic Series

Year 2025

Publication:Infographic

Infographic titled “Current model of material use and key policy actions to address structural barriers.” The graphic illustrates global material flows from sources and extraction through provisioning systems to disposal and sinks. It shows that material use has more than tripled over the past 50 years, exceeding 100 billion tonnes annually and potentially reaching 160 billion tonnes by 2060. Key policy actions such as circular economy solutions and sustainable consumption are highlighted.

This infographic presents the current model of material use and shows how extraction, production, consumption and disposal drive environmental pressures. It also outlines key policy actions to overcome structural barriers, reduce resource use and decouple human well-being from environmental harm. It is based on the report “Moving from Interconnected Crises to Systemic Solutions. Resource Efficiency, Nature-based Solutions, and Systemic Transformation as Responses to the Complexity of the Triple Planetary Crisis” and highlights concrete pathways for action. The infographic is also included in the accompanying fact sheet under the same title.

Current Model of Material Use & Key Policy Actions to Address Structural Barriers

Infographic Series

Year 2025

News

Climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution rank among the most pressing global challenges of our time. The research project "Challenges for International Climate Protection in the Face of the Global Triple Crisis", commissioned by the German Environment Agency (UBA), now presents a series of reports, fact sheets and infographics that systematically analyse these challenges as a single, interconnected crisis.

Integrated Approaches to the Triple Planetary Crisis

Reports, fact sheets and infographics on drivers, impacts and pathways for action

15 December 2025

Publication:Infographic

Infographic depicting selected nature-based solutions

Nature-based solutions (NbS) can address multiple dimensions of the triple planetary crisis at once: climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental pollution, while delivering benefits for people and ecosystems. This infographic, visualises how NbS can function as systemic responses when designed and implemented under the right conditions. It illustrates how measures such as mangrove restoration, constructed wetlands, and urban green infrastructure can simultaneously contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation, strengthen biodiversity, and reduce pollution-related pressures. It also highlights the broader societal challenges that NbS can support, including water and food security, human health, risk reduction, and reversing environmental degradation.

Examples of nature-based solutions as systemic solutions for the triple planetary crisis

Infographic Series

Year 2025

Publication:Fact Sheet

The fact sheet explains why climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution must be understood as a systemically interconnected crisis driven by shared pressures such as resource use, land-use change and structural inequalities. It highlights how direct and indirect drivers interact across sectors and regions, creating reinforcing feedbacks and compounding risks for ecosystems and societies.

The Interconnected Challenges of Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Environmental Pollution

Fact sheet

Year 2025

Publication:Report

Humanity has already exceeded six of the nine planetary boundaries, with climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution pushing the Earth system beyond its safe operating space. Because these boundaries interact through complex feedback loops, surpassing one accelerates pressures on the others, creating cascading effects that amplify environmental degradation. This interconnected dynamic is driving a systemic triple planetary crisis, or polycrisis, that undermines ecological resilience and threatens long-term human well-being. Addressing it requires integrated, cross-sectoral approaches that tackle shared drivers and deliver co-benefits across environmental and socio-economic domains.

Integrated Approaches to Addressing the Triple Planetary Crisis: Country Best Practices

Lessons learned from Brazil, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand, Panama, Rwanda and Sweden

Year 2025

Publication:Fact Sheet

This fact sheet summarizes the information contained in the publication Burgos Cuevas et al. (2025): Moving from interconnected crises to systemic solutions. Resource efficiency, nature-based solutions, and systemic transformation as responses to the complexity of the triple planetary crisis. Interim report, Climate Change 83/2025. German Environment Agency: Dessau-Roßlau. https://doi.org/10.60810/openumwelt-8108.

Moving from Interconnected Crises to Systemic Solutions

Resource efficiency, nature-based solutions, and systemic transformation as responses to the complexity of the triple planetary crisis

Year 2025

Publication:Report

The triple planetary crisis is a systemic challenge, not three separate issues: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution reinforce one another through shared drivers and feedback, threatening planetary and human well-being. It is driven by fossil fuel dependence, unsustainable production and consumption, overexploitation of land and resources, and structural inequalities. The analysis concludes that the triple crisis can only be effectively addressed through systemic, cross-sectoral, and justice-oriented approaches. By linking resource governance, NbS, and transformative change, this report highlights how today’s triple crisis can be turned into an opportunity to regenerate ecosystems, reduce inequalities, and build resilient societies within planetary boundaries.

Moving from Interconnected Crises to Systemic Solutions

Resource efficiency, nature-based solutions, and systemic transformation as responses to the complexity of the triple planetary crisis

Year 2025

Publication:Report

This report, commissioned by the German Federal Agency (UBA), provides a systematic analysis of this triple planetary crisis. It demonstrates why climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental pollution cannot be understood and tackled in siloes, but instead share common drivers, feedback mechanisms, and cascading effects. The aim of the report is to close knowledge gaps and provide political and scientific actors with an integrated, holistic understanding.

The Interconnected Challenges of Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Environmental Pollution

Drivers, Interdependencies and Impacts of the Triple Planetary Crisis

Year 2025

Language

English

Credits

Media format: coloured infographic for a report and fact sheet

Copyright: CC BY 4.0

Content: Aaron Best, Charlotte Felthöfer, Doris Knoblauch, Natalia Burgos Cuevas, Teresa Spantzel, Yannick Heni

Graphic design: Jennifer Rahn, Lena Aebli

Funding

German Environment Agency (UBA), Germany

Published in

The Interconnected Challenges of Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Environmental Pollution

Published by

German Environment Agency (UBA), Germany

Year

2025

Project

Challenges for International Climate Protection in the Face of the Global Triple Crisis

Project ID

50205

Keywords

Climate

triple planetary crisis, systemic environmental solutions, climate change and biodiversity loss, resource efficiency, nature-based solutions, planetary boundaries, environmental justice, cross-sectoral transformation, sustainable resource use, integrated environmental policy

Global, Germany, Europe, Global South

systematic literature review, systems analysis of societal metabolism, cross-sectoral policy analysis, nature-based solutions assessment, justice- and MAPA-focused governance analysis

Attachments

infographic-1-uba-dreifachkrise.pdf (702.2 KB)

Further Links

PublicationInfographicExamples of nature-based solutions as systemic solutions for the triple planetary crisis

Nature-based solutions (NbS) can address multiple dimensions of the triple planetary crisis at once: climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental pollution, while delivering benefits for people and ecosystems. This infographic, visualises how NbS can function as... Read more

Umweltbundesamt 2025: Examples of nature-based solutions as systemic solutions for the triple planetary crisis. Infographic.

PublicationArticleMeaningful Participatory Climate Governance

Photo: Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2024 from Belgium, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, Page: John Wiley & Sons, 2025

Under the EU’s Governance Regulation, Member States are legally required to hold multilevel climate and energy dialogues (MLCEDs), structured spaces for deliberation between governments, civil society, and other stakeholders. These dialogues are meant to build trust,... Read more

Faber R, Kocher D, Duwe M. Meaningful participatory climate governance: Lessons from EU multilevel climate and energy dialogues. RECIEL. 2025;34(2):394-408. doi:10.1111/reel.12618

PublicationArticleChallenges for Assessing and Implementing Nature-based Solutions at Landscape-scale

Image by Alfons Landsmann from Pixabay, article page by Springer Nature, 2026

Nature-based solutions (NbS) at the landscape scale are increasingly recognised for their role in supporting biodiversity, enhancing ecological connectivity and contributing to climate change adaptation. However, their assessment and implementation remain complex. This... Read more

Blicharska, M., Lago, M., McDonald, H. et al. Challenges for assessing and implementing nature-based solutions at landscape-scale – insights from project on ponds and pondscapes. Hydrobiologia (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-026-06212-0

PublicationReportIntegrated Approaches to Addressing the Triple Planetary Crisis: Country Best Practices

Humanity has already exceeded six of the nine planetary boundaries, with climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution pushing the Earth system beyond its safe operating space. Because these boundaries interact through complex feedback loops, surpassing one... Read more

Iwaszuk, E.; Spantzel, T.; Kroos, F.; Knoblauch, D. (2025): Integrated Approaches to Addressing the Triple Planetary Crisis: Country Best Practices. Lessons learned from Brazil, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand, Panama, Rwanda and Sweden. Policy paper. Climate Change 81/2025, German Environment Agency: Dessau-Roßlau. https://doi.org/10.60810/openumwelt-8106

PublicationReportMoving from Interconnected Crises to Systemic Solutions

The triple planetary crisis is a systemic challenge, not three separate issues: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution reinforce one another through shared drivers and feedback, threatening planetary and human well-being. It is driven by fossil fuel dependence... Read more

Burgos Cuevas, Natalia et al. (2025): Moving from interconnected crises to systemic solutions. Resource efficiency, nature-based solutions, and systemic transformation as responses to the complexity of the triple planetary crisis. German Environment Agency: Dessau-Roßlau. https://doi.org/10.60810/openumwelt-8108.

PublicationFact SheetMoving from Interconnected Crises to Systemic Solutions

The triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution constitutes an interconnected system of risks, driven by unsustainable resource extraction and processing, fossil fuel dependence, and entrenched social and economic inequalities. Its... Read more

Burgos Cuevas, Natalia et al. (2025): Moving from interconnected crises to systemic solutions. Resource efficiency, nature-based solutions, and systemic transformation as responses to the complexity of the triple planetary crisis. Fact sheet. German Environment Agency: Dessau-Roßlau. https://doi.org/10.60810/openumwelt-8102.

PublicationReportThe Interconnected Challenges of Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Environmental Pollution

For a long time, the multiple environmental crises, also called the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental pollution were viewed separately. However, research and policy increasingly recognize that they are deeply interconnected... Read more

Knoblauch, D., Felthöfer, C., Heni, Y., Burgos Cuevas, N., & Best, A. (2025). The Interconnected Challenges of Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Environmental Pollution: Drivers, Interdependencies and Impacts of the Triple Planetary Crisis. Interim report, Climate Change 82/2025. German Federal Agency. https://doi.org/10.60810/openumwelt-8107.

PublicationFact SheetThe Interconnected Challenges of Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Environmental Pollution

The fact sheet explains why climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution must be understood as a systemically interconnected crisis driven by shared pressures such as resource use, land-use change and structural inequalities. It highlights how direct... Read more

Felthöfer, C., Knoblauch, D., & Best, A. (2025). The interconnected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution: Drivers, interdependencies and impacts of the triple planetary crisis (Fact sheet). German Federal Agency. https://doi.org/10.60810/openumwelt-8070

Adaptation
Agriculture
Arctic
Biodiversity
Bioeconomy
Cities
Climate
Climate Foreign Policy
Coastal + Marine
Communication
Consumer Policy
Culture + Ecology
Digitalization
EU
Economics
Education
Energy
Environmental Law – Ecologic Legal
Evaluation
Events
Finance
Food
Foreign Policy
Governance
Health
Indicators
Industry
International Cooperation
Land Use
Mobility
Nature-based Solutions + Green Infrastructure
Plastics
Public Diplomacy
Resource Conservation + Circular Economy
Trade
Water