Abstract
The concept of the planetary boundaries (PB) is a reasonable scientific approach towards achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). It started in 2009 with a group of scientists at the Stockholm Resilience Center (SRC) in Sweden with the aim of showing a safe operating space for human development and wellbeing through scientific research by quantifying what they refer to as “planetary boundaries”. But in other for the concept of the PB to thoroughly address the matters of the SDGs which does not only include environmental sustainability but also social issues, human prosperity, and governance, the concept of the PB has in combination with social boundaries and governance approaches created a sphere of reasonable ideas towards achieving the SDGs. The sustainable development trajectories of the PB comprising of six major structural transformations ensures that the world continues to develop economically while staying within planetary boundaries. Therefore, it has to take the cooperative efforts of all nations in the world to tackle, and to mitigate the overwhelming effects we have caused on our “good planet”. Humans should realize that our planet has tried in all its “resilient capabilities “to condone all our exploitations, but it seems we have squeezed it too much and it is deflating. We need to build resilience to the unexpected (resilience thinking); we need to be prepared for the unexpected, both to be able to cope with “shocks” and to take advantage of “potentially positive surprises.” This review tries to put together the different research ideas towards achieving the aim of the concept of the PB. Keywords: Planetary Boundaries, Social Boundaries, Earth System Governance, SDGs DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/112-21 Publication date: August 31 st 2021
Highlights
The Stockholm Resilience Center (SRC) in Sweden brought about the idea of the concept of the planetary boundaries in 2009 in other to show a safe operating space for human development and wellbeing
That transgressing any or all of those boundaries will lead planet Earth to a very dangerous end. This concept has used other concepts that describe global environmental constraints: “carrying capacity”, “sustainable consumption and production”, “guardrails”, “tipping points”, “footprints”, “safe operating space” or “planetary boundaries” as a shoulder to stand on in other to go beyond what all these concepts describe to indicate a safe zone for humanity’s innovation, growth and development in the pursuit of human prosperity in an increasingly populated and wealthy world (Rockström et al 2013)
Since the sustainable development goals (SDGs) only specify 6 goals namely: SDG 6, SDG, SDG, SDG, SDG, and SDG in relation to environmental sustainability defined as the climate system is stable, biodiversity is conserved, ecosystems function well, freshwater is secured, rural and urban settlements are protected from pollution and are resilient to climate shocks (TWI2050. 2018); and the rest of the other goals are in relation to social inclusion, human prosperity, and good governance
Summary
The Stockholm Resilience Center (SRC) in Sweden brought about the idea of the concept of the planetary boundaries in 2009 in other to show a safe operating space for human development and wellbeing They made the first attempt at identifying planetary boundaries for key Earth System processes associated with dangerous thresholds, the crossing of which could push the planet out of the desired Holocene state (Rockström et al 2009 a).
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