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One of the key features of the world we have built for ourselves is that technological advancements are ever accelerating – while our personal and societal systems are slower to advance. This also means that the challenges we face are multi-valent and coming at us even faster. This edition is largely about rejecting simplification and rebutting binary options. For example, human health and the environment have generally been dealt with as two distinct areas of development – yet there are deep causal dynamics between them. As such it’s great to have Montira Pongsiri leading the issue on the concept of ‘Planetary Health’. Likewise, emissions reduction has been elevated as the panacea to climate change, yet stripping the goal of its political and historical context ultimately puts it closer to failure. Kate Dooley takes us through the details of COP27. Similarly, Steve Sharp draws our eyes to the Pacific, to discuss the structural issues that are undermining current and future initiatives for a just transition. No person or problem is an island. If we can master the synergies at these intersections then we might just meet the agendas we have set for ourselves.