Planetary boundaries is a concept involving Earth system processes that contain environmental boundaries.It was proposed in 2009 by a group of Earth system and environmental scientists, led by Johan Rockström from the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Will Steffen from the Australian National University.

The group wanted to define a “Safe operating space for humanity” for the international community, including governments at all levels, international organizations, civil society, the scientific community and the private sector, as a precondition for sustainable development.

We are on average, moving towards four degrees warming this century. And we haven’t been in a four-degree warmer world for the past four million years. So it’s not as if it’s a place we know very well.

Johan Rockström

Transgressing one or more planetary boundaries may be deleterious or even catastrophic due to the risk of crossing thresholds that will trigger non-linear, abrupt environmental change within continental-scale to planetary-scale systems

The framework is based on scientific evidence that human actions since the Industrial Revolution have become the main driver of global environmental change.

According to the framework, “Transgressing one or more planetary boundaries may be deleterious or even catastrophic due to the risk of crossing thresholds that will trigger non-linear, abrupt environmental change within continental-scale to planetary-scale systems.” The Earth system process boundaries mark the safe zone for the planet to the extent that they are not crossed.

The research that was published in 2009 stated that 3 of the boundaries where exceeded. In 2015, the number was increased to 4. In 2022, it was increased to 5.

1. Climate change EXCEEDED
2. Biosphere integrity (functional and genetic) EXCEEDED
3. Land-system change EXCEEDED
4. Freshwater use
5. Biogeochemical flows (nitrogen and phosphorus) EXCEEDED
6. Ocean acidification
7. Atmospheric aerosol pollution
8. Stratospheric ozone depletion
9. Release of novel chemicals (including heavy metals, radioactive materials, plastics, and more) EXCEEDED

The Planetary Boundaries framework is closely related to UN’s 17 SDG’s. The framework focuses on 4 of the SDG’s

• (6) Clean Water and Sanitation
• (13) Climate Action
• (14) Life Below Water
• (15) Life On Land