Without social sciences, humanities and arts, the goal of sustainability may never be reached

Eric Neumayer and Charles Joly argue that the key challenges posed by making a transition to a sustainable net-zero carbon economy are social, rather than technological. As such, instead of waiting for technological change to simply emerge, in the post-covid world, a new emphasis should be placed on SHAPE subjects (social sciences, humanities, arts) and the insights they provide into enabling and delivering change across every aspect of society and the economy.