Tipping points toward sustainability: The role of industrial ecology

Abstract The discussion of tipping points (TPs) is getting increasing attention when addressing the climate and energy crisis. While industrial ecology (IE) has been playing a role in the climate and energy debates, it has so far fallen short of substantially adding to the research on TPs. This forum input highlights how the current contributions from IE have impacted the scientific community's understanding of TP. It highlights potential areas where IE engagement could be more prominent and points out avenues for achieving this. In particular, five fields of action seem pertinent: (i) engaging in theory building; (ii) closer collaboration with social sciences and economics; (iii) identifying and defining new indicators; (iv) making use of new modeling techniques; and (v) open science.