This issue commences with Topher Mcdougal bioeconomics of planetary energy transitions in the context of unprecedented economic growth experienced by human societies over the past two centuries. Luqman Saeed considers the effects of humanitarian military interventions (HMIs) on conflict in the countries in which they have been used. Anke Hoeffler, Frederike Kaiser, Birke Pfeifle, and Flora Risse explore the methodological implications when measuring deaths caused by collective violence as a measure of progress on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.1 .