Our current food system is a leading cause of biodiversity loss and global warming. It is also responsible for increasing the risk of diabetes, stroke, and heart disease, as well as public health threats such as antimicrobial resistance and pandemics emerging from industrial animal agriculture.

How can we reduce the inequalities and harms of commercial social media and the online world, while building spaces that better support our human need to connect and communicate?

We know the importance of data and evidence in tackling global crises like climate change, but is it stories rather than statistics that will drive change? Our panel discuss how art, literature and performance can be used to connect and inspire people, and how this feeds into activism.

How can scientific evidence help us in an age of “alternative facts”? As chief data reporter for the Financial Times, John Burn-Murdoch uses statistics and graphics to dig into the most pressing issues of the day, covering everything from the economy to climate change, social issues and healthcare. His high-profile use of visualization and data science helped audiences around the world understand the complexities of the coronavirus pandemic. He helps to inject data and evidence-based argument into what can be very polarising topics.

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping our world, transforming economies, societies, daily interactions and the institutions that support them. Many researchers and policymakers view this as a pivotal moment, one that could lead to greater global wellbeing if managed well or to growing instability if risks are left unchecked.

We live in polarised times, when global problems seem to be turning us against each other, not bringing us together. Over Festival week we will explore ways of tackling the enormous challenges we face, but there will be no solutions without cooperation.

The climate crisis is reshaping economies, societies, and livelihoods—but not everyone bears its costs equally.

This event brings together theatre and social science to explore some of the most urgent questions of our time, building on LSE IDEAS’ Geopolitics of Climate Change series.

Is the return of great power rivalry and conflict eroding the collective capacity and willingness of the international community to address environmental, trade, and public health crises globally?

Join former US Secretary of State John Kerry for a wide-ranging conversation on global sustainability challenges and opportunities, reflecting on leadership, international cooperation, and the evolving intersections between sustainability, diplomacy and public policy.