Approaches to defining a planetary boundary for biodiversity

Human impacts on the Earth have become so pervasive as to drive global scale changes leading some scientists to propose a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. A name which reflects the huge and sweeping changes human activities have caused to the Earth. Furthermore, these rapidly expanding and accelerating activities threaten to push aspects of the Earth system beyond  the relatively stable and safe space in which the entirety of human history occurred, the Holocene. This safe operating space is characterised by a set of nine planetary boundaries1 within which humanity should be able to continue to develop and thrive for generations to come. These include: climate change, biosphere integrity, biogeochemical flows and freshwater use. Crossing these boundaries risks generating large-scale, rapid or irreversible environmental changes. Reducing the environmental impact of our activities in order to keep within a safe operating space for humanity and the linked goal of providing a basic social foundation for everyone requires global actions. Every individual, company, institution and organisation, whether large or small, public or private, needs to contribute – ‘think global, act local’. Scientific publishing as a key player in discussing and disseminating research on climate heating and the biodiversity crisis has transformed from print to digital journals and e-books over recent decades but we must do more. The European Association of Science Editors (EASE) is an international community of individuals and associations engaged in science communication and editing. As such, EASE can help and support its members to engage in different ways to achieve and communicate efforts to reduce our environmental footprints for example by becoming carbon neutral (or even carbon negative) irrespective of the type of organisation they work in. Below are some suggestions for how editors can take steps to reduce their environmental footprint in their own particular circumstances and thereby contribute to the overall effort to reduce environmental damages. Not all suggestions will be relevant to everyone and structural or organisational change will have a greater impact than individual actions, but together we can make a difference.

Offline: Progress towards planetary health

The planetary boundaries framework highlights critical global environmental processes where society's activities are altering Earth system risks. As businesses increasingly seek to apply the framework, more attention should be given to gender in the knowledge-action interplay of its scientific methodology, the discursive production of the framework's 'safe operating space for humanity', and its institutional operationalization. Here I view the framework through a gender lens, with a focus on four aspects of the knowledge-action system: perceptions and visibility of gender in the scientific underpinnings of the framework; power and control in 'safe operating space' discourses; policies and institutions relevant to governance of Planetary Boundaries processes; and the praxis of sustainability responses to the framework's call to action on global megatrends. In examining how social drivers are described and solutions are presented, we can assess whether a gendered view expands the scope for societies to respond to today's unsustainable megatrends.

The Planetary Boundaries framework was developed to control the anthropogenic pressure on the Earth system and delimit a safe operating space for humanity. Within the European Union (EU), the energy sector is the most emitting sector. Many studies have investigated life cycle impacts of electricity generation, but assessments of the life cycle impacts of electricity generation in relation to the planetary boundaries are currently limited. Here, we evaluate the life cycle impacts of electricity generation in the EU-28 and relate these impacts to the planetary boundaries. Moreover, we include an assessment of impacts on the planetary boundary biosphere integrity, which has often been omitted due to its complexity and inadequate basis for quantification. Three scenarios (Base, Green, and NZE) for the period 2020–2050 are considered, and two different sharing principles are applied for assigning a share of the safe operating space to the considered system. We found that neither of the three scenarios can be considered within the boundaries of the assigned safe operating space using either of the sharing principles. All three scenarios comply with an equal number of boundaries defined by SoSOS 1 in year 2050 (7 out of 15 boundaries), but in relation to the boundaries defined by SoSOS 2 the Green scenario performs best, complying with 13 out of 15 boundaries. The good performance of the Green scenario in 2050 is especially due to the large share of renewable energy sources (74 %) and nuclear (21 %), and because of the inclusion of BECCS, giving negative impacts on climate change. The results of the study indicate a need for a drastic change in the electricity mix of the EU-28 towards a larger share of renewable energies and emphasize the importance of considering all planetary boundaries to avoid burden shifting and to obtain absolute environmental sustainability for EU-28 electricity generation.

Increasing environmental pressure from production and consumption of products and services is starting to affect Earth System stability. Thus, the Planetary Boundaries framework introduced a set of absolute boundaries for keeping the Earth System stable and delimiting a safe operating space for humanity. The sum of environmental pressures associated with human activities should not exceed the safe operating space. This includes utility companies whose activities relate to supply of water and treatment of waste‐ and stormwater. This study conducted an absolute environmental sustainability assessment (AESA) of a Danish utility company to evaluate if it could be considered absolutely sustainable relative to an assigned share of the safe operating space (SoSOS). The AESA evaluated the company's impacts relative to an assigned share of the Planetary Boundaries and relative to specific local boundaries for nitrogen and phosphorous emissions. Results showed that the assigned SoSOS was exceeded for 10 of 18 impact categories, for example, climate related boundaries were exceeded by up to a factor 7.8 while local nitrogen and phosphorus boundaries were exceeded by ca. a factor 16. The AESA can indicate to which degree the company exceeds its assigned SoSOS for certain impact categories and the processes and life‐cycle stages to focus on to become absolutely sustainable. This information is crucial for deriving specific impact reduction targets as part of environmental strategies for companies to become sustainable in an absolute sense.

This case describes a three-part assignment in which students discuss key processes that regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth system and our increased risk of generating large-scale abrupt or irreversible environmental changes. Here, we use the planetary boundaries concept as a case study. Students are first asked to complete a pre-reading assignment in which they illustrate their perceptions of the degree to which human activity has changed nine earth system processes (e.g., nitrogen cycling, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification). Students then read primary literature on the planetary boundaries concept and complete a reading assurance assignment in which they summarize the reading and reflect on questions generated by the reading. In class, students work together in assigned groups to create a diagram of their collective perceptions and identify processes for which there was the largest misalignment with those presented in the paper. Students then discuss and summarize the evidence used by the authors to justify where these processes stand with respect to the safe operating space for humanity. The lesson concludes with a facilitated discussion and lecture on sustainability governance. This lesson provides students with a &quot;capstone&quot; activity to integrate ecological concepts discussed over the course of a semester and frames a larger discussion on socio-ecological aspects of global environmental change. <em>Primary image:&nbsp;</em>Example of a student&rsquo;s illustrated perceptions prior to reading &lsquo;A safe operating space for humanity&rsquo; (Rockstr&ouml;m et al. 2009). The wedges represent an estimate of the extent to which humans have changed nine earth system processes.

A new consistent framework for assignment of safe operating space to B2C and B2B industries for use in absolute environmental sustainability assessments

Ambitious climate change mitigation in all economic sectors is crucial for limiting global warming. Cost-effective mitigation pathways to keep global average temperature increases below 1·5°C by the end of the 21st century often rely on land-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, increased land-based carbon uptake and biomass supply to other sectors (eg, energy and transport), and demand-side changes in the food system. To evaluate the broader sustainability of land-based climate change mitigation action, we evaluated synergies and trade-offs of individual and combined supply-side mitigation measures across five planetary boundaries. We also examined the role of a food demand transformation aligned with the dietary recommendations of the updated planetary health diet defined in the forthcoming EAT-Lancet Commission 2.0 report in shaping planetary boundary outcomes. In this modelling study, we used the dynamic land-system modelling framework MAgPIE to assess the consequences of land-based GHG reductions, increased land-based carbon uptake, increased biomass supply to other sectors, and a food-system transformation towards the planetary health diet including food waste reductions on five planetary boundary domains (climate change, nitrogen, land-system change, freshwater use, and biosphere integrity) relative to a reference scenario without land-system mitigation throughout the century. For each planetary boundary control variable, we calculated the level of planetary boundary transgression (ie, the extent to which scenario outcomes exceeded the defined safe operating space) and assessed the contributions of land-based mitigation strategies to reducing planetary boundary transgressions projected for the reference scenario. Our projections show that a food-system transformation together with ambitious land-system and energy-system climate change mitigation can limit global warming to below 1·5°C by 2100, while also reducing planetary boundary transgression (particularly for the climate change, land-system change, biosphere integrity, and nitrogen planetary boundaries). However, a safe operating space was not achieved through these mitigation measures, as most planetary boundaries were still projected to remain transgressed by the end of the 21st century. Increased bioenergy supply alone worsened planetary boundary transgression when only looking at land-system impacts, but combining increased bioenergy supply with GHG pricing in the land system alleviated these trade-offs. Food waste reductions and dietary shifts towards the planetary health diet were projected to ease pressures on the land system and reduce planetary boundary transgression of all assessed planetary boundaries. This research highlights the importance of considering multiple planetary boundaries and the interactions between various mitigation strategies when assessing climate mitigation action in the land system to avoid negative consequences for other aspects of the environment. Following an ambitious climate change mitigation pathway compatible with the Paris Agreement results in a transgression of all assessed five planetary boundaries by 2100. However, the combination of the land-system mitigation measures included in this study produced a substantial shift towards the safe operating space for humanity. EAT-Lancet Commission 2.0.

Neste artigo consideramos os problemas ambientais globais dentro do conceito de limiares planetários, em convergência com os últimos avanços das ciências naturais. Nesse contexto, nosso objetivo é explorar o papel do Brasil na governança do espaço de operação seguro para a humanidade, avaliando como o país complementa o enorme capital ambiental físico que possui com ações políticas específicas orientadas para uma economia verde de baixo carbono (EVBC), tanto no âmbito doméstico quanto no internacional. Para atingir essa meta, em primeiro lugar discutimos conceitualmente a economia verde de baixo carbono como paradigma de desenvolvimento compatível com um espaço de operação seguro para a humanidade; em segundo lugar, analisamos a Rio+20 pelo prisma da governança global dos limiares planetários e pela atuação brasileira na Cúpula; e finalmente fazemos um diagnóstico da situação do Brasil em relação ao novo paradigma de desenvolvimento. Como conclusões da análise, destacamos a crescente distância entre a aceleração dos problemas da interdependência - especialmente a definição de um espaço seguro de operação para a humanidade - e os mecanismos globais de governança existentes, derivada de um sistema internacional bloqueado e dominado por forças conservadoras. O resultado frustrante da Rio+20 é evidência clara dessa defasagem. Nessa dinâmica, o Brasil tem o potencial para ser um ator central da governança dos limiares planetários, por seu vasto capital ambiental físico. No entanto, o mínimo avanço da EVBC no país degrada essa capacidade de agência, e o torna uma potência ambiental subdesenvolvida (underachiever environmental power).

The plot of Interstellar serves as an excellent backdrop to address the Anthropocene and the politics of the Apocalypse. Global environmental problems such as climate change, and biodiversity loss are framed as in need of extraordinary measures that, if not taken promptly, may lead to an apocalyptic and catastrophic scenario. The geological aspect of the Anthropocene presents its thesis as an inescapable moment in space/time in which people have, inadvertently, ‘ended up’. The ‘Bad Anthropocene’ narrative is built around the concept of ‘Planetary Boundaries’ which diversely supports the idea of ‘returning to a stable condition’ and ‘a safe operating space for humanity’, or in other words, the idea of ‘turning back the clock’ to the selectively stable conditions of a ‘Holocene 2.0’. Geopower can be considered as a combination of technocratic environmental interventions, geo-knowledge of imperial ecologies, Earth System Sciences and geoengineering. Narratives about the Apocalypse are not new.

This paper introduces the energy constraints as the tenth existing Planetary Boundary (PB hereafter) for defining a safe operating space for humanity on Earth. Energy limitations, in fact, follow all the technical requirements, that are applied to all the existing PBs. After discussing about the specific power both of some planetary components and of some elements of the biosphere, the evolution of human civilization is discussed, considering its additive specific power. This is done in order to show the existing power shift originated by the industrialization and, subsequently, within the Anthropocene. The historical trend of Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) for human civilization, expressed in terms of power and measured in units of [W], follow within the discussion. Consequently, both a lower preliminary limit (identified with the pre-industrial TPES, according to the PB framework), and an upper threshold are identified. The latter is related to the total appropriation of the Net Primary Production (NPP). Finally, the foreseen TPES for the year 2050 is discussed under three different scenarios. Different "quality" goals are defined, according to different existing low-carbon scenarios, which are related to a sufficiency perspective for humanity. Such a transition is of paramount importance since it will enable humanity to remain into a safe operating space within the biosphere. While the paths to reach such an objective go beyond the scope of this paper, it is anyway remarked that both a socio-economic transition and policy efforts are necessary in order to involve the population by means of well-planned bottom-up actions.

Healthy diets and sustainable food systems

Several safe boundaries of critical Earth system processes have already been crossed due to human perturbations; not accounting for their interactions may further narrow the safe operating space for humanity. Using expert knowledge elicitation, we explored interactions among seven variables representing Earth system processes relevant to food production, identifying many interactions little explored in Earth system literature. We found that green water and land system change affect other Earth system processes strongly, while land, freshwater and ocean components of biosphere integrity are the most impacted by other Earth system processes, most notably blue water and biogeochemical flows. We also mapped a complex network of mechanisms mediating these interactions and created a future research prioritization scheme based on interaction strengths and existing knowledge gaps. Our study improves the understanding of Earth system interactions, with sustainability implications including improved Earth system modelling and more explicit biophysical limits for future food production.

Contemporary society operates beyond safe boundaries of the Earth system. Returning to a safe operating space for humanity within Earth system boundaries is a question of justice. The relevance of the economy—and thus of business—for bringing society back to a safe and just operating space highlights the importance of business ethics research for understanding the role of business in Earth system justice. In this commentary, we explore the relevance of business ethics research for understanding the crucial role of business in the dynamics of the Earth system. We do so by integrating the perspectives of business ethics and system-oriented sustainability science on the basis of the theory of metabolic rift, which explains how the dynamics of capitalism result in the destruction of the natural environment. On this basis, we argue that a mutually reinforcing relationship between perpetual economic growth and profit seeking behaviour of business, which we call the loop of unsustainability, continually deepens the metabolic rift and keeps business from effectively contributing to Earth system justice. This perspective allows us to formulate firm-level and system-level preconditions for attaining Earth system justice, and to sketch a research agenda that links business ethics scholarship with questions of Earth system justice.

This article discusses sustainable entrepreneurship in light of planetary boundaries and related aims to contribute to managing for and in a safe operating space for humanity. The rapidly developing research area of environmental, social and sustainable entrepreneurship has flourished for the last two decades and improved our understanding of the phenomenon. However, while a contribution to sustainable development is often stated in general terms or implied, most of the sustainable entrepreneurship literature focuses on classifications, motivations, processes and specific outcomes without explicit links to how planetary boundaries are addressed. This paper discusses links between sustainable entrepreneurship and the planetary boundaries concept by addressing both perspectives: how can the concept of planetary boundaries provide perspectives for designing and assessing sustainable entrepreneurship? And how can sustainable entrepreneurship contribute effectively to an economy and society operating in a safe operating space for humanity?