We deliver science for change

The Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere programme (GEDB) conducts transdisciplinary research on the challenges of global change and sustainability.

Exploring the interplay between global environment, finance and health.

The Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere (GEDB) programme conducts actionable science to drive cross-sectoral change for people and the planet.

We create alliances with key actors in society and combine multidisciplinary insights in novel ways.

Research themes

New research frontiers for people and planet

A sustainable future requires a better understanding of the relationship between the economy, societal development and the living planet. GEDB’s research has two main themes: Biosphere Finance and Global Health and Biosphere Stewardship.

Biosphere Finance

Studies how corporate finance affects the biosphere and how the power of the financial sector can be reoriented to strengthen ecosystems and societies.

Global Health and Biosphere Stewardship

Focus in this theme is on how human health depends on biodiversity, including new diseases and food systems.

The deep interconnections

between the biosphere & global economic dynamics of various forms are becoming more and more apparent. Examples range from the emergence of new zoonotic infectious diseases to heat waves, floods and fires devastating ecosystems, undermining agricultural production and disrupting international supply chains. Such interconnections are at the very heart of research conducted within the GEDB.

GEDB is a research programme at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is funded by the Family Erling-Persson Foundation.

About us

Our latest news

See all news here

28 maj 2024

Beatrice Crona member of Nature Action 100’s first Science Council

Nature Action 100 is a global investor-led engagement initiative focused on supporting greater corporate...

27 maj 2024

Annual Report 2023

The year 2023 saw a sad record, with 63 major weather-related disasters hitting the world, each resulting...

12 feb 2024

Evolutionary traps for humanity

Humankind risks getting stuck in evolutionary traps, ranging from global climate tipping points to misaligned...

17 dec 2023

New funding for advancing food system sustainability

GEDB researcher Malin Jonell and her team have received a SEK 10 million grant from the Swedish research...

Our latest publications

We deliver peer-reviewed reserach, spanning across disciplines in both the natural and social sciences to tackle societal challenges.

See all publications here

Journal article

Seaweeds for carbon dioxide removal (CDR)– Getting the science right

Troell, M., C. Hurd, T. Chopin, B.A. Costa-Pierce, and M.J. Costello. 2024. Seaweeds for carbon dioxide removal (CDR)– Getting the science right. PLOS Climate 3(3): e0000377.

Journal article

Utilizing basic income to create a sustainable poverty-free tomorrow

Sumaila, U. R., C. C. C. Wabnitz, L. S. L. Teh, L. C. L. Teh, V. W. Y. Lam, H. Sumaila, W. W. L. Cheung, I. Issifu, K. Hopewell, J. E. Cinner, N. J. Bennett, C. Folke, S. Gulati, and S. Polasky. 2024. Utilizing basic income to create a sustainable poverty-free tomorrow. Cell Reports Sustainability 1: 100104.

Journal article

The Planetary Commons: A new paradigm for safeguarding Earth’s regulating systems in the Anthropocene

Rockström, R., L. J. Kotzé, S. Milutinović, F. Biermann, V. Brovkin, J. Donges, J. Ebbesson, D. French, J. Gupta, R. E. Kim, T. M. Lenton, D. Lenzi, N. Nakićenović, B. Neumann, F. Schuppert, R. Winkelmann, K. Bosselmann, C. Folke, W. Lucht, D. Schlosberg, K. Richardson, and W. Steffen. 2024. The Planetary Commons: A new paradigm for safeguarding Earth’s regulating systems in the Anthropocene. PNAS 121(5): e230153112.