Paul D. Raskin

Paul Raskin is the founding president of the Tellus Institute. In addition, he established the Global Scenario Group and the Great Transition Initiative. His work has focused on visions and strategies for a sustainable and just future. Toward that end he has pioneered widely-used models for integrated assessment, served as lead author on numerous international assessments, and published widely. Dr. Raskin holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics from Columbia University.

Which Future Are We Living In?

By Paul D. Raskin, Great Transition Initiative

We are on a perilous journey from a moribund past to…where? Although we cannot predict the itinerary or destination, we can imagine different directions.

November 18, 2022

Interrogating the Anthropocene: Truth and Fallacy

By Paul D. Raskin, The Great Transition Initiative

The Anthropocene concept advances the stunning proposition that human activity has catapulted Earth out of the relatively benign Holocene into a hostile new geological epoch.

February 17, 2021

By Joseph Wright of Derby - http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/0706/fig3.jpghttp://www.culturevoyage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Alchymist.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15154197

The Coronavirus as Crucible (Response to After the Pandemic: Which Future?)

By Jeremy Lent, Paul D. Raskin, Great Transition Initiative

The impact of coronavirus will be huge. But it is not yet the crisis that could push our global society into the phase change required for the Great Transition.

July 7, 2020

How Do We Get There? The Problem of Action

By Paul D. Raskin, Great Transition Initiative

In our time of unprecedented interdependence and existential risk, we face a common predicament and an uncertain destiny. As the global quandary deepens and awareness spreads, the conviction that root-and-branch social change is needed to circumvent perils and seize opportunities draws more and more of us.

January 3, 2018

Journey to Earthland: Branching Scenarios

By Paul D. Raskin, The Great Transition

Whither Earthland? The only certainty about the future is surprise, the one constant change.

December 5, 2016

Global scenarios for the century ahead: searching for sustainability

By Richard A. Rosen, Paul D. Raskin, Tellus Institute

Building on earlier work of the Global Scenario Group and the Stockholm Environment Institute - Boston, this paper presents four updated and contrasting global scenarios for the twenty-first Century created with the PoleStar modeling system. These scenarios feature brief narratives and integrated quantifications across numerous economic, social, resource, and environmental dimensions.

June 17, 2010