Our effort began in 2010 as scientists from many institutions met at a UC Berkeley Initiative in Global Change Biology to identify major biological problems arising from the rapid global change that is taking place today.
The result was the publication in the science journal Nature, Approaching a State Shift in the Biosphere, which was the culmination of over a year of work by 22 biologists from four countries (the United States, Chile, Finland, and Spain).
California's Governor Jerry Brown read the article, and contacted the participating scientists to ask, in effect: "If these are such big problems, why aren't you scientists shouting it from the rooftops? And why are you scientists only talking to each other? Why don't you give policy makers and the general public something we can use?"
Following that, a group of 16 global change scientists from five universities (UC Berkeley, Stanford University, University of Washington, University of New Mexico, University of Helsinki, University of Oslo) continued a dialog with the governor and his staff about how to deliver scientifically accurate information in a form that world leaders could easily digest and use.
The result was a unique partnership between scientists and the California Office of the Governor. The interaction led to the production by the scientists of the document: "Scientific Consensus on Maintaining Humanity's Life Support System in the 21st Century, Information for Policy Makers."
Governor Brown promptly started using the consensus statement and the information therein in policy discussions with leaders in the White House, China, Japan, Mexico, as well as with California business people and local officials.