Safe Operating Space For Humanity Research Articles

Climate change critically affects the status of the land-system change planetary boundary

The planetary boundaries framework defines a safe operating space for humanity. To date, these boundaries have mostly been investigated separately, and it is unclear whether breaching one boundary can lead to the transgression of another. By employing a dynamic global vegetation model, we systematically simulate the strength and direction of the effects of different transgression levels of the climate change boundary (using climate output from ten phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project models for CO2 levels ranging from 350 ppm to 1000 ppm). We focus on climate change-induced shifts of Earth’s major forest biomes, the control variable for the land-system change boundary, both by the end of this century and, to account for the long-term legacy effect, by the end of the millennium. Our simulations show that while staying within the 350 ppm climate change boundary co-stabilizes the land-system change boundary, breaching it (>450 ppm) leads to critical transgression of the latter, with greater severity the higher the ppm level rises and the more time passes. Specifically, this involves a poleward treeline shift, boreal forest dieback (nearly completely within its current area under extreme climate scenarios), competitive expansion of temperate forest into today’s boreal zone, and a slight tropical forest extension. These interacting changes also affect other planetary boundaries (freshwater change and biosphere integrity) and provide feedback to the climate change boundary itself. Our quantitative process-based study highlights the need for interactions to be studied for a systemic operationalization of the planetary boundaries framework.

Earth beyond six of nine planetary boundaries.

This planetary boundaries framework update finds that six of the nine boundaries are transgressed, suggesting that Earth is now well outside of the safe operating space for humanity. Ocean acidification is close to being breached, while aerosol loading regionally exceeds the boundary. Stratospheric ozone levels have slightly recovered. The transgression level has increased for all boundaries earlier identified as overstepped. As primary production drives Earth system biosphere functions, human appropriation of net primary production is proposed as a control variable for functional biosphere integrity. This boundary is also transgressed. Earth system modeling of different levels of the transgression of the climate and land system change boundaries illustrates that these anthropogenic impacts on Earth system must be considered in a systemic context.

Evaluating source separation wastewater systems using traditional life cycle assessment and the planetary boundaries approach

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a commonly used method for assessing environmental impacts of systems, but cannot produce absolute values, i.e. a comparison with existing calculated values, which represents limits of what can be emitted into the environment. Therefore, absolute environmental sustainability assessments have been developed to assess impacts against the planetary boundaries (PBs) of the safe operating space for humanity. Since PB-LCAs are novel, it is useful to analyze both results from this method and conventional LCAs, something which has not been done before. This study applied both methods to two full-scale sanitation systems in the city of Helsingborg, Sweden. The current conventional system for handling wastewater with active sludge and food waste to biogas production was compared with the novel project H+ source separation system with three pipes (food waste, grey and black water) with increased resource recovery through anaerobic digestion, ammonia stripping, struvite precipitation and pelletization. The Planetary Boundaries LCA (PB-LCA) results showed that both systems exceeded eight of the assigned shares of PBs, including climate change and biogeochemical flows of nutrients. Traditional LCA (ReCiPe impact assessment) showed net savings for the H+ system in a few categories and considerable reductions in several impacts, e.g., global warming potential (GWP), stratospheric ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification, and water consumption. In PB-LCA the H+ system gave additional impacts in both assessments for a few categories, mostly due to high consumption of chemicals in the ammonium stripping process used for nutrient recovery. In conclusion, the combined assessments highlight hot-spots for process optimization in the H+ system. From a methodological standpoint, PB-LCA still needs improvements to better reflect avoided burdens and results from traditional LCA should be fully transparent and analyzed carefully. The assessment methods complement each other and can be combined to better represent environmental performances of systems.

Global food trade alleviates transgressions of planetary boundaries at the national scale

Food systems are among the leading causes for transgression of planetary boundaries globally, which define the safe operating space for humanity. We quantify unsustainable environmental impacts of food systems, indicated by the transgression of national-scale planetary boundaries (i.e., the safe operating space for food production in each country), from both production and consumption perspectives of 189 countries/regions around the world. A multi-regional input-output model is used to map the global transfers of the national-scale transgression of planetary boundaries, including freshwater use, land change, and biogeochemical flows (nitrogen and phosphorus). Our results show that China is a major global unsustainable water and nitrogen exporter and an unstable land and phosphorus importer. This means that water and nitrogen uses in China are used to support food demands in other countries, and food consumption in China requires unsustainable land and phosphorus uses elsewhere. In contrast, the US is a major exporter of unsustainable water, land, and nitrogen uses but only an importer of unsustainable phosphorus for food consumption. Globally, compared to a counterfactual scenario where there is no food trade among any countries, food trade saves massive transgressions of planetary boundaries (270km3 of water, 18 million tons of nitrogen, 7 million tons of phosphorus, and 5,431 million km2 of land). Alleviation of national-scale planetary boundary transgression has been achieved primarily in the US, China, Saudi Arabia, etc., while aggravation was incurred in Pakistan, Australia, Argentina, and so forth.

Evaluation of life cycle impacts of European electricity generation in relation to the Planetary Boundaries

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.

The Benefits and Burdens of Meat Consumption

The Benefits and Burdens of Meat Consumption

A Welfare Economic Approach to Planetary Boundaries

AbstractThe crises of both the climate and the biosphere are manifestations of the imbalance between human extractive, and polluting activities and the Earth’s regenerative capacity. Planetary boundaries define limits for biophysical systems and processes that regulate the stability and life support capacity of the Earth system, and thereby also define a safe operating space for humanity on Earth. Budgets associated to planetary boundaries can be understood as global commons: common pool resources that can be utilized within finite limits. Despite the analytical interpretation of planetary boundaries as global commons, the planetary boundaries framework is missing a thorough integration into economic theory. We aim to bridge the gap between welfare economic theory and planetary boundaries as derived in the natural sciences by presenting a unified theory of cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis. Our pragmatic approach aims to overcome shortcomings of the practical applications of CEA and CBA to environmental problems of a planetary scale. To do so, we develop a model framework and explore decision paradigms that give guidance to setting limits on human activities. This conceptual framework is then applied to planetary boundaries. We conclude by using the realized insights to derive a research agenda that builds on the understanding of planetary boundaries as global commons.

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

The planetary boundaries define a safe operating space for humanity to act within without potentially destabilizing the planet. The safe operating space is often used a sustainability reference in Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessments (AESAs) where a share of the safe operating space (SoSOS) is assigned to the assessed activity. An identified challenge is that current methods are suited for business-to-consumer (B2C) industries and companies, but ill-suited for assessments of business-to-business (B2B) as the sharing is often based on the direct value to humans. Thus, this study presents a systematic framework for assigning a SoSOS to both B2C and B2B industries and companies. The framework uses multi-region input-output models to link industries and to estimate the direct and indirect value to humans for both B2B and B2C industries. The framework was tested in a case study for a B2B company to show its application and to evaluate the sensitivity of the framework towards different modelling choices. The results of the case study and sensitivity analyses were used to provide recommendations for further improvement of the framework. While there is still need for improvement and refinement, the framework shows large potential. Mainly because it directly facilitates AESA of B2B industries and companies, in order to help gauging their environmental performance relative to absolute boundaries and, thus, provide better basis supporting strategic sustainability related activities.

Establishing the planetary boundaries framework in the sustainability reporting of ICT companies – A proposal for proxy indicators

The Planetary Boundaries framework provides a holistic view of Earth's resilience by defining boundaries of a safe operating space for humanity and measurable control variables that describe the state of the Earth-system processes. Humanity is altering these processes, which has resulted in the transgression of several Planetary Boundaries. Researchers have downscaled the Planetary Boundaries framework onto smaller settings, yet its implementation on a company scale is rare and even more so when considering corporate sustainability reporting. In an attempt to assist ICT companies in identifying their negative impact on the Earth-system processes, this paper explores how the Planetary Boundaries framework can be integrated to complement current Information and Communication Technology (ICT) corporate sustainability indicators. The purpose is to define reportable company-scale proxy indicators (hereinafter ‘proxies’) based on the Planetary Boundary control variables, to assist companies in monitoring how impacts related to the Earth-system processes change over time. Based on data collected through an extensive literature review and interviews, sixteen reportable proxies are defined. The applicability of these proxies is also tested using one ICT company as a test case. The test case concludes that the current reporting practices of the studied ICT company are sufficient for two of the proxies but require minor or major refinements for the remaining ones. The deliverables of this study can assist in establishing corporate policies and aid companies to measure and follow up on the environmental impacts associated with the Planetary Boundaries framework over time. Moreover, this study does not address the downscaling of the safe operating space associated with the different boundaries, since defining such spaces for a specific company is not possible at this point. Therefore, applying the suggested proxies would not determine whether a company is operating within a fair and reasonable share of the safe operating space but rather indicate how its impacts develop over time.

Calculating the sustainability of products based on their efficiency and function

<h2>Summary</h2> The planetary boundaries concept has identified limits that must be preserved to ensure a safe operating space for humanity. We are threatening, and in some cases have exceeded, these limits in part through unsustainable use of products and services. Life cycle assessments of individual products, while valuable in evaluating the environmental footprint of a product, lack inherent impact targets. Here, I propose performance-weighted environmental sustainability as a numerical indicator to determine if the environmental impacts of a product are sustainable. Using the example of a washing machine, its function (laundry) was used to normalize the environmental impact of its freshwater use. The results suggest that a UK washing machine using 33 L of water per wash cycle is sustainable. This metric makes it possible to determine acceptable environmental impacts for individual products based on what they are used for and to inspire sustainable product design.

Understanding and addressing the planetary crisis of chemicals and plastics

Planetary functions are destabilized by the releases of large quantities and numbers of anthropogenic chemicals, which go beyond planetary boundaries and threaten the safe operating space for humanity. Here, we call for urgent action to mitigate these threats and identify opportunities for intervention along the impact pathway of anthropogenic chemicals, including plastics.

A framework for future-oriented environmental impact assessment of companies considering Science-Based Targets

The irreversible impacts of human activities on the Earth have led to the introduction of planetary boundaries that define a safe operating space for humanity to act within. Subsequently, Science-Based Targets (SBTs) have been set for companies as Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets consistent with the required decarbonisation level to limit the temperature rise to less than 2 °C above the pre-industrial level. On the other hand, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been applied as a suitable decision-making tool to integrate the environmental impacts of products in strategic and long-term planning. Many Future-oriented LCA approaches with relatively short-term perspectives have been published. However, the operationalisation of SBTs requires quantification of companies' Environmental Impacts in the far future. There are a few studies on the future-oriented Environmental Impact Assessment of companies with SBTs consideration. This paper aims to develop a framework for future-oriented Environmental Impact assessment of companies towards operationalisation of SBTs. The proposed framework employs scenario analysis and SBTs for Future-oriented Environmental Impact Assessment of product families and companies. Accordingly, it quantifies companies’ Environmental Impact Reduction Requirement (EIRR) to provide Environmental impact Targets (ETs) for product families and proposes pathways for product families to reach SBTs. In this research, Apple Inc. is considered as the case study and the application of the proposed methodology. It is concluded that the 86.51% Environmental Impact Reduction Requirement (EIRR) of Apple Inc. will not be satisfied considering different scenarios.

Quantifying Earth system interactions for sustainable food production via expert elicitation

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.

ESD Ideas: planetary antifragility: a new dimension in the definition of the safe operating space for humanity

Abstract. Combining well-established non-equilibrium thermodynamic principles and a system dynamics approach, we define, for the first time, the concept of planetary antifragility as changes of Fisher information of Earth's entropy production. As a first approximation for entropy production, we propose using shortwave global albedo anomalies and provide a first quantitative example with data for the July months in the Northern Hemisphere from 1982 to 2010. These preliminary results show a net reduction of 47.63 % in albedo's Fisher information. This loss of antifragility implies a compounding problem because human perturbations such as climate or land-use changes are increasing, but at the same time, the planet is losing its capacity to respond to them. We discuss the concept of antifragility in the context of safe operating space for humanity and planetary boundaries. We conclude that not only does interaction among state variables of the boundaries matter, but more importantly the perturbation response capacity dimension is also missing. In conclusion we speculate on improving the operational definition for ecosystems.

Soil and water pollution and human health: what should cardiologists worry about?

Healthy soil is foundational to human health. Healthy soil is needed to grow crops, provides food, and sustains populations. It supports diverse ecosystems and critical ecological services such as pollination. It stores water and prevents floods. It captures carbon and slows global climate change. Soil pollution is a great and growing threat to human health. Soil may be polluted by heavy metals, organic chemicals such as pesticides, biological pathogens, and micro/nanoplastic particles. Pollution reduces soil's ability to yield food. It results in food crop contamination and disease. Soil pollutants wash into rivers causing water pollution. Deforestation causes soil erosion, liberates sequestered pollutants, and generates airborne dust. Pollution of air, water, and soil is responsible for at least 9 million deaths each year. More than 60% of pollution-related disease and death is due to cardiovascular disease. Recognizing the importance of pollution to human health, the European Commission and the EU Action Plan for 2050: A Healthy Planet for All, have determined that air, water, and soil pollution must be reduced to levels that cause no harm to human or ecosystem health. We are thus required to create a toxic-free environment, respect the concept of a safe operating space for humanity, and sustain the health of our planet for future generations. This review article summarizes current knowledge of the links between soil health and human health and discusses the more important soil pollutants and their health effects.

Energy systems modeling and optimization for absolute environmental sustainability: current landscape and opportunities

Energy systems analysis supports in designing and operating reliable and cost-effective energy solutions to a range of sectors, including power, heating, mobility, and industry. Notwithstanding the wellbeing and prosperity implications for current generations, it becomes increasingly clear that our current global energy system has profound impacts on our planet, potentially breaching the safe operating space for humanity. Life cycle assessments are broadly used to account for environmental aspects, however, this traditional approach may fall short of designing truly sustainable alternatives. Here, we review the concept of absolute sustainability and how it can be incorporated into energy systems modeling and optimization. Besides providing background, guidance, and perspective, we also discuss some challenges related to environmental and computational aspects. Although much work is still required, the absolute environmental sustainability concept can already be used in energy systems modeling and would contribute to achieving a green energy transition within planetary boundaries, ensuring sustainable development for future generations.

A planetary boundary for green water

Green water — terrestrial precipitation, evaporation and soil moisture — is fundamental to Earth system dynamics and is now extensively perturbed by human pressures at continental to planetary scales. However, green water lacks explicit consideration in the existing planetary boundaries framework that demarcates a global safe operating space for humanity. In this Perspective, we propose a green water planetary boundary and estimate its current status. The green water planetary boundary can be represented by the percentage of ice-free land area on which root-zone soil moisture deviates from Holocene variability for any month of the year. Provisional estimates of departures from Holocene-like conditions, alongside evidence of widespread deterioration in Earth system functioning, indicate that the green water planetary boundary is already transgressed. Moving forward, research needs to address and account for the role of root-zone soil moisture for Earth system resilience in view of ecohydrological, hydroclimatic and sociohydrological interactions.

Environmental sustainability and scientific publishing: EASE manifesto

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&amp;nbsp; 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 &amp;ndash; &amp;lsquo;think global, act local&amp;rsquo;. 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.

Necessary or oversimplification? On the strengths and limitations of current assessments to integrate social dimensions in planetary boundaries

With the Earth system being about to leave Holocene conditions and thus the known safe operating space for humanity, frameworks such as the Planetary Boundaries (PBs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide quantitative metrics to guide sustainability transformations. In order to strive, not only for compliance with the PBs but also for societal well-being, some approaches attempt to combine both PBs and SDGs within a single assessment.We focus on two prominent examples, the “Doughnut” by Kate Raworth and the #SDGinPB project of the 2018 report to the Club of Rome, which are not only aimed at public outreach, but also at guiding policy-making. To meet these objectives, the approaches should possess a certain accuracy in determining the progress in achieving the SDGs and in complying with the PBs. We evaluate, by using a multi-indicator approach for comparison, whether both approaches’ limited set of indicators can still represent the SDGs’ complexity. This comparative approach estimates the progress in achieving SDGs, especially in the Global North, to be significantly lower.Based on these results and against the approaches’ purposes, we discuss their simplifications and at which point the results are no longer reliable. We conclude that global assessments can be an important factor in initiating transformative processes by stimulating public discourse, but that the actual implementation of these would require approaches with greater recognition of local particularities.

Diets within Environmental Limits: The Climate Impact of Current and Recommended Australian Diets.

Planetary boundaries are an important sustainability concept, defining absolute limits for resource use and emissions that need to be respected to avoid major and potentially irreversible earth system change. To remain within the safe operating space for humanity, there is a need for urgent adoption of climate-neutral diets, which make no additional contribution to warming. In the first study of its kind, a new climate metric, the Global Warming Potential Star (GWP*), was used to assess greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with 9341 Australian adult diets obtained from the Australian Health Survey. Dietary climate footprints averaged 3.4 kg CO2-equivelent per person per day, with total energy intake explaining around one quarter of the variation. Energy-dense and nutrient-poor discretionary foods contributed around one third. With lower climate footprint food choices, a diet consistent with current Australian dietary guidelines had a 42% lower climate footprint. Currently, it is not possible to define a climate-neutral dietary strategy in Australia because there are very few climate-neutral foods in the Australian food system. To bring Australian diets into line with the climate stabilization goals of the Paris Agreement, the most important need is for innovation across the agricultural and food processing industries to expand the range of climate-neutral foods available.