There are social tipping points when the seemingly impossible suddenly becomes inevitable. Good journalism plays an essential role in helping drive these shifts and shows us how real change can happenClimate campaign 2026: help us reach 20,000 acts of supportThere are many reasons to despair: our green and pleasant land is parched and brown, reservoirs are depleted, and wildfires are wracking the UK, Europe and the US. But there are many more reasons not to despair: despair is self-fulfilling; despair is disempowering; despair is what the bastards want you to feel. But above all, despair is irrational. Let me explain why.However sophisticated our forecasting tools may be, we simply have no means of knowing what comes next. Like the climate, like every ecosystem, society is a complex system. Its properties and adaptive responses cannot be predicted by studying its components in isolation, regardless of the brilliance of social scientists and futurologists. Things happen - unexpected things - sometimes at astonishing speed. In other words, society has tipping points. It can quickly flip from one equilibrium state to another.Climate campaign 2026: help us reach 20,000 acts of supportOn Tuesday 20 October, join Damian Carrington, and our panel of experts—including Professor Andy Haines, Katie White MP, Asad Rehman, Shruti Suresh, Gareth Thomas and Amy Fairman for a hopeful and solutions-focused evening. Book tickets here or at guardian.live Continue reading…