SEI member A/Prof Michele Barnes is the only Australian author in landmark report Resilience Science Must-Knows: Nine Things Every Decision-Maker Should Know About Resilience. The report, released yesterday, compiles decades of resilience research into nine must-knows aimed at guiding decision-makers in managing global crises.

Resilience Science Must-Knows was developed by Stockholm Resilience Centre, Future Earth, Global Resilience Partnership, and partners from around the world in an unprecedented collective effort by the resilience research community. Michele was one of 120 experts who contributed to the work, further developed through surveys and consultation dialogues with 162 decision-makers, community leaders, and the private sector, spanning a total of 134 organisations worldwide.

“As the only Australian on the expert editorial board, I helped shape [the report] … a science-based roadmap for turning finance into meaningful action. It shows how resilience is built through agency, relationships, and systems-aware planning – not just infrastructure – to create futures that are fair, inclusive, and sustainable.” – A/Prof Michele Barnes

The report explores how the latest resilience science can support system-wide adaptation and transformation, translating cutting-edge research into actionable insights for decision-makers across sectors. Its release ahead of COP30 comes at a pivotal moment for climate science and action.

Michele adds, “COP30 must move beyond promises. That means scaling public finance for the most vulnerable, unlocking private investment through equitable mechanisms, and mainstreaming adaptation into development planning. But finance alone isn’t enough, we need strategies that work.”

The urgency of the challenges to be addressed at COP30 are further highlighted by UNEP’s 2025 Adaptation Gap Report: Running on Empty, released last week; it documents the gap in the cost of adaptation finance needed in developing countries, which Michele calls “a wake-up call”: “… developing countries need up to US$365 billion annually by 2035 to adapt, yet received just US$26 billion in 2023. This gap is more than financial – it’s a failure of global solidarity. For reef-dependent and coastal communities, many of whom I’ve worked with for over a decade, adaptation is not a cost – it’s a lifeline. These communities are navigating compounding risks that threaten their very lives and livelihoods, and they deserve to be at the centre of climate finance and policy.”

“Looking ahead to COP31, Australia has an opportunity to lead by example and champion climate finance that supports transformation, not just recovery”, she adds. Michele’s work in Resilience Science Must-Knows will guide policymakers in shaping a future in which nature, societies, and economies can thrive within planetary boundaries.

The Nine Must-Knows are:

1. Resilience is critical for navigating accelerating risk

Rising crises, shocks, and inequalities are creating new challenges. Resilience offers pathways toward more just and sustainable futures for people and the planet.

2. Resilience requires balancing the capacities to cope, adapt, and transform

Resilience is not just about bouncing back—it is about building the capacity to cope with shocks, adapt to change, and transform systems away from undesirable trajectories, while finding the right balance between these capacities.

3. Investing in resilience today reduces costs tomorrow

The return on resilience investment far exceeds its initial cost. Investment in resilience protects and strengthens the social, economic, and ecological foundations that support long-term human well-being and prosperity.

4. Resilience is a cycle of learning and innovation

Resilience is a cycle that demands continuous experimentation, learning, and innovation. Understanding resilience dynamics and the alternations between phases of rapid change and relative stability opens pathways to new and better futures.

5. Diversity is essential for resilience to thrive

Diversity is a cornerstone of resilience—providing options for persistence and sources of innovation to enable adaptation and transformation. It includes biodiversity as well as diversity in knowledge systems, cultures, practices, social structures, institutions, and livelihoods.

6. Relationships among people and with nature build resilience

Resilience grows through relationships—between people, with nature, and within landscapes and ecosystems. These connections strengthen the flow of resources, knowledge, trust, and care.

7. Governing and negotiating trade-offs is key to resilience

Almost every decision involves trade-offs, and addressing these across scales, interests, and generations is vital to avoid unintended harms, prevent conflict, and build just, lasting resilience.

8. Empowering agency unlocks resilience

Agency is key to activating core resilience capacities. Supporting and developing agency means enabling people and institutions to take intentional and grounded action.

9. Address power imbalances to foster equitable resilience

Building resilience requires directly addressing social inequalities, power imbalances, and historical injustices. Otherwise, resilience interventions risk reinforcing the very systems that cause vulnerability.

Read the University’s feature on COP30, with contributions from Michele and SEI members Luisa Bedoya Taborda, Dr Niranjika Wijesooriya Gunarathne, and A/Prof Ying Zhang.

Photo by Sheila C on Unsplash.