The Limits of Populism in the Face of Planetary Boundaries: A Response to Mouffe

ABSTRACT This article explores tensions between urbanisation and planetary boundaries by examining responses to water scarcity in the Frankfurt am Main region, Germany. Actors navigate resource scarcity and thereby influence regional politics of urban growth and climate adaptation by connecting urban homes and gardens, inner-city space, and rural hinterlands through new infrastructures of water storage. Those reach from centralised groundwater recharge systems to localised sponge city and rural biodiversity protection practices. These dynamics reveal the political role of technology in reconfiguring ‘urban ecologies of limits’ amid an emerging planetary shift in urban water management, influencing how environmental limits are scientifically represented, temporally framed and spatially scaled. The article captures these relationships through the notion of infrastructural technopolitics, advancing a resource-sensitive approach within urban infrastructure studies. It further grounds technopolitical analysis in geographical space by examining homes and gardens, inner-city spaces and rural hinterlands as interconnected technopolitical landscapes. This way of describing the shifting territories of the Critical Zone, the thin layer that harbours life on Earth, offers new avenues for developing political orientations toward urban water and space amid global environmental change, challenging persistent modernist distinctions and making space for more speculative futures.

Despite the many calls for business schools to integrate sustainable development in the curriculum and the many efforts to do so, the content remains largely on the periphery. Scholars and educators have offered numerous explanations, including ranking pressures, misaligned academic incentives, and the dominance of neoliberal ideology. While these explanations have merit, we argue that there is an even more foundational reason: macro-level sustainability topics are at odds with the individual- and organizational-level outcomes of most business disciplines. To address sustainability meaningfully, business schools need to bring macro-levels of analysis into the core curriculum, which can be accomplished by tackling complex business problems. Focusing on complex business problems invokes systems thinking, requiring students to understand the interaction between business and broader environmental and social concerns. By tackling complex problems, business schools will better prepare students for navigating and shaping a future in which economic development remains within planetary boundaries.

Modern enzymatic biorefineries present promising potential for global decarbonization, offering value-added products from biological resources. However, their role within a sustainable societal trajectory remains unclear, particularly when evaluated against prospective environmental boundaries. This uncertainty stems from the lack of a robust methodology for allocating future impacts to biorefinery products. To bridge this gap, this study presents an innovative approach to achieve short- and long-term mitigation targets (2030–2050), as specified by a dynamic prospective Safe Operating Space (SOS). Different sharing principles are combined with shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) and the learning theory to project the environmental thresholds for pectin and Cellulose Nanofibers (CNFs) produced via enzymatic and chemical routes. The analysis reveals that pectin production via enzymatic treatment exceeds the allocated SOS within the climate change Planetary Boundary by a factor of 238, while the conventional method surpasses it by 423 times. In comparison, CNFs show exceedances of 84 and 103 times for the enzymatic and the conventional routes, respectively. Products' penetration into the market is analyzed within the dynamic framework, capturing their internal progression towards meeting absolute sustainability targets. Pectin produced via enzymatic treatment can meet 2050 targets, with a 15% learning rate and 14.78% market penetration, whereas CNFs require no additional market penetration under the SSP1 and SSP2, remaining below the prospective threshold of 8.3 × 10⁻⁵ ppm CO₂ per functional unit. Overall, this study introduces an integrated methodology combining process design, prospective LCA, absolute sustainability, and market modeling to guide biorefinery development within the Planetary Boundaries.

The planetary boundaries framework offers a science-based perspective on maintaining Earth system stability and safeguarding human well-being. For novel entities, however, monitoring and governance remain fragmented, with no quantitative boundary being defined or operationalized yet due to the high variation and diversity of substance emissions, exposure, and effects. Here, we synthesize progress and key implementation gaps in defining and applying a planetary boundary for novel entities. We propose an action-based framework that embeds DPSIR (Drivers-Pressures-State-Impacts-Responses) within iterative PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycles and leverages chemical footprint approaches to derive policy-relevant metrics and control variables. This framework aims to translate the planetary boundary for novel entities from an abstract early warning concept into an actionable tool for guiding global chemicals management within a safe and just operating space.

Health care crisis: looking beyond the obvious: Part 2: Drawing inspiration from the planetary boundaries concept.

Post-growth meets polycentric governance: Toward an interdisciplinary research program

1) Background: Integrated Care aims to address the diverse needs of individuals and communities by providing seamless, people and community-led services, but it often overlooks ecological and environmental sustainability. This workshop introduces participants to Doughnut Economics(1)—a framework that promotes thriving within ecological and social boundaries—and explores its application to Integrated Care. By aligning Doughnut Economics with the sextuple aim of healthcare which includes environmental sustainability) (2), the session provides an opportunity to explore an innovative perspective for redesigning care systems. 2) Workshop Objectives This interactive workshop enables participants to step into the Doughnut framework and reflect on its relevance to their communities and systems. Participants will reflect on existing practices to identify critical challenges and opportunities for integrating ecological and social sustainability into health and care delivery. 3) Target audience: Integrated Care is most effective when it is shaped with people, not just for them. This workshop will be open to everyone’s unique perspective to explore these new concepts collaboratively. 3) Structure - Introduction (10 minutes) Facilitators provide an overview of Doughnut Economics and its relevance to Integrated Care. The discussion will highlight the sextuple aim, particularly emphasising the emerging sixth aim: environmental sustainability. Attendees will explore how achieving equitable, people- and community-centred care with continuity and coordination requires addressing ecological limits alongside people', providers', and systemic goals. - Interactive Mapping Exercise (30 minutes) Hands-on activity to explore their local healthcare contexts through the Four Lenses of Doughnut Economics. Participants will map their reflections and ideas collaboratively during this exercise about: o Good Practices: Identifying initiatives aligning with the Doughnut framework. o Challenges: Examining critical social and ecological gaps. o Visionary Futures: Creating a vision about initiatives or policies that could transform care into a sustainable and just system. - Discussion (15 minutes) Groups will present key insights, followed by a facilitated discussion to identify recurring themes, shared challenges, and actionable opportunities. The plenary focuses on practical steps to align healthcare with the principles of Doughnut Economics and the sextuple aim. - Closing (5 minutes) Summary of the key themes discussed. The session will close with an invitation to continue exploring these ideas within their own work and communities. 4) Outcomes Participants will leave with: - A practical understanding of how Doughnut Economics can frame Integrated Care initiatives. - Insights into systemic gaps and potential solutions that address the social and ecological dimensions of care. This workshop will encourage participants to reimagine Integrated Care as a holistic, sustainable system that meets the needs of people and care teams while respecting the planetary boundaries, ensuring health and care thrive in a just and safe space for humanity. 5)

Scientists estimate that humanity has exceeded seven of nine planetary boundaries, threatening the entire planet with potentially catastrophic consequences for all species. We therefore have a moral imperative for future generations and other species to return to the safe side of those boundaries. Threats to these boundaries take the form of social dilemmas, defined as situations in which individuals acting in their own interest undermine collective welfare, which can only be solved through cooperation. Western economic theory has conditioned us to believe that humans are inherently selfish. This assumption has led economists, scientists, and policymakers to increasingly pursue market-based solutions to conservation approaches, which have yielded limited success. In contrast, this article argues that humans are inherently cooperative. We employ Multi-Level Selection Theory (MLS) to depict the evolutionary advantages of cooperation and to define morality as putting the group ahead of the individual. We examine two examples of MLS in action: Territories of Life (TOL) and Ubuntu. The paper provides guidance for pathways of Ecozoic governance, planning, and restoration. Applied in a Western context in Burlington, Vermont, the philosophies hold true, showing that social norms and group identity already shape ecological behavior in Burlington residents’ lawn care practices. Ultimately, providing an alternative economic model built on these ethical foundations, we introduce the Neighbor’s Goodwill that reframes social dilemmas in a game theory context. The Neighbor’s Goodwill demonstrates how loyalty, reciprocity, and social belonging alter payoff structures. This research is founded on the fact that humans are inherently social and tend to make decisions in the interest of the whole group over their own.

ABSTRACT Latin American climate adjudication realizes its transformative promise only when courts treat conflicts among timescales as legally decisive, rather than as mere background context. The central challenge lies in translating the temporal demands of planetary boundaries into judicial reasoning, especially where delay may render harm irreversible and foreclose future options. Examining climate decisions across Latin America, this article identifies the main techniques through which courts in the region have made planetary time judicially manageable, including intergenerational equity and time-sequenced approaches to causation and responsibility. It then turns to jurisprudence on precaution and just transition to show how legal responses to uncertainty distribute risk and burden over time, and why legal standards and remedies must be calibrated to urgency, prevention, and the narrowing window for effective action.

A Review of Systems Perspectives in Sustainability: How Systems Properties Convey Systems-Wide Dynamics

Hydrogen is a key lever for decarbonising hard-to-electrify sectors. Mitigation scenarios project an essential role for hydrogen in returning within the climate change planetary boundary. Yet, its planetary footprint remains unclear, particularly when Earth system interactions are considered. Here, we quantify the planetary footprint of global clean hydrogen production using a bottom-up system model coupled with an Earth system interaction model. From 2025 to 2050, even under the most favourable scenarios, global hydrogen production is likely unsustainable, confirming previous findings. We further show that Earth system interactions amplify hydrogen's planetary footprint. While electrolytic and abated fossil production are complementary, bio-based production is an order of magnitude more unsustainable, as opposed to current trends. Our results contrast with the current focus on "green hydrogen" which does not inform on its sustainability. Achieving sustainable hydrogen production will require the reconsideration of viable production pathways, starting with the decarbonisation of existing production capacity.

The impact of the human activities can be evaluated by the Planetary Boundaries (PBs), however, so far it is not clear how to assess the influence of specific sociopolitical events (SPEs) on the Earth System (ES) and at the same measure, without a suitable framework, to gauge how these affect the PBs. In this work, we propose an interacting matrix model that couples SPEs with the PBs and consider the possible evolution scenarios and, in particular, those leading to crises and policrisis. We address specifically the situation where the PBs evolve according to the continuous logistic function, and then consider an exponentially-evolving SPE, which we show to cause a runaway effect on the PBs. We also propose a way to describe, classify, and compare sociopolitical syndromes, that is, a set composed of more than a single polycrisis.

Abstract Sufficiency has gained prominence as a framework for designing mobility systems that respect planetary boundaries while ensuring wellbeing for all. Yet research on mobility sufficiency remains highly fragmented across disciplines and terminologies. This study provides the first large-scale, evidence-based mapping of mobility sufficiency policies by combining machine-learning techniques with qualitative, in-depth policy analysis. Using active learning screening across Scopus and Web of Science, we identify 18,138 publications engaging with ecological and social dimensions of mobility. A large language model extracts 71 policy measures from abstracts, along with their reported impacts on resource demand, emissions, accessibility, and equity. These quantitative patterns are complemented with a qualitative assessment of 483 representative papers selected through a cross-encoder relevance model, ensuring contextual depth and capturing heterogeneity in policy effects. Policies are classified into three categories - Sufficiency, Potential Sufficiency, and Not Sufficiency - based on their alignment with both limits of the sufficiency corridor: planetary boundaries and wellbeing for all. Seventeen policies, primarily related to spatial planning, active mobility, and public space reallocation, consistently avoid resource demand while improving accessibility and safety. Thirty-nine policies qualify as potential sufficiency but require equity safeguards, redistribution mechanisms, or structural adjustments to mitigate rebound effects, particularly in the case of economic incentives and technology-driven solutions. Fifteen policies do not meet sufficiency criteria, often increasing mobility demand or reinforcing inequalities. Overall, the findings underscore that sufficiency transitions depend primarily on structural transformations in urban form and accessibility rather than behavioural or technological fixes alone. Methodologically, this study demonstrates how machine learning and qualitative analysis can be integrated to systematically map sufficiency across large research corpora. The resulting policy catalogue provides a robust evidence base for scenario development and sufficiency modelling.

Minimizing cropland GHG emissions while maintaining nutrient surplus within planetary boundaries in China

A rapid assessment tool of environmental and economic impacts of food waste in collective catering: an example from 8 European school canteens

The integration of Planetary Boundaries (PBs) in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) enables the assessment of the environmental sustainability of systems, with the resulting approach termed Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessments (AESA). This approach has gained significant interest from academia to policymaking, leading to increasing applications but also differing methodologies. To ensure the robustness and comparability of AESA studies, we critically investigate two key methodological aspects related to i) harmonisation of LCA indicators with the PBs control variables and ii) allocation of the Safe Operating Space delineated by the PBs to systems. We use as a case study the EU consumption Footprint to analyse the effects of these methodological aspects on AESA results. Our findings suggest that current consumption patterns in the EU are environmentally unsustainable under an equal per capita principle for all (harmonisation) methods, with at least one boundary transgressed. The extent of boundary transgression varies significantly across methods due to differences in modelling parameters or boundary definition. The choice of allocation principle also significantly affects AESA results, and can even reverse the study's conclusions (e.g. under the Acquired Rights principle). This highlights the utmost importance of employing multiple principles as a sensitivity analysis in AESA studies to ensure robust conclusions. Future work should align individual methods to use similar methodological assumptions, and investigate the merits of developing PB-dependent allocation factors. Regionalisation of boundaries and inclusion of the Biosphere integrity PB are also key limitations that should be investigated. • EU share varies over 1 order of magnitude depending on allocation principle. • Sensitivity analysis of allocation principle is key to interpret AESA results • AESA impact assessment methods yield significantly different results • Future research must harmonise assumptions in impact methods. • EU consumption exceeds PBs under most of the approaches investigated.

Alternatives to planetary boundaries can enhance science-policy linkages for chemicals governance

Mountains exemplify how climate change transforms long-standing refuges into zones of loss. As species track suitable climates upslope, they confront absolute ecological limits. This commentary reflects on montane extinctions as a warning signal for broader planetary boundaries and the future of biodiversity in the Anthropocene.

The Living Planet Index and the ever-changing iterations of planetary boundaries for biodiversity integrity or health are inappropriate, misleading, and will harm on-the-ground conservation efforts.