ERS - Planetary boundaries

what are planetary boundaries?

define the safe operating space for humanity on Earth. It helps identify environmental thresholds that, if crossed, could lead to irreversible and dangerous changes in the Earth system. They are a foundation for policies

VERY IMPORTANT these boundaries do not dictate development goals, but rather define biophysical ceilings that sustainable development must respect

=> not about stopping progress, but about ensuring progress doesn't destroy our planetary life-support systems.

how to incorporate planetary boundaries in policy?

requires translating global thresholds into actionable, local decision-making frameworks

1. Downscaling the Boundaries

2. Measuring the Environmental Footprint

3. Assessing Social Impacts

4. Aligning with International and EU Policies

5. Risk-Based Climate Policy and Adaptation

6. Holistic and Cross-Sectoral Governance

what are the 9 environmental limits of the planetary boundaries?

• Climate Change

• Biosphere Integrity

• Biogeochemical Flows (Nitrogen and Phosphorus cycles)

• Land-System Change

• Freshwater Use

• Ocean Acidification

• Atmospheric Aerosol Loading

• Novel Entities (e.g., microplastics, pesticides)

• Ozone Depletion

Downscaling the Boundaries

National or regional thresholds are derived from global limits

Measuring the Environmental Footprint

• Evaluate based on production, consumption, and territorial emissions.

• Helps identify how national activities impact planetary systems locally and globally.

Aligning with International and EU Policies

Instruments like the EU Green Deal, EU Taxonomy, and CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) mandate environmental and climate risk assessments.

These create incentives or obligations for businesses and governments to respect planetary boundaries

Risk-Based Climate Policy and Adaptation

• Integrate physical and transitional climate risk into national security and economic planning.

• Develop climate adaptation strategies that enhance resilience to boundary overshoot risks (e.g., floods, biodiversity loss).

Holistic and Cross-Sectoral Governance

• Encourage collaboration between environment, economy, health, and social sectors.

• Use systems thinking and long-term planning to handle trade-offs and cascading effects (e.g., agricultural land use impacting water systems and health).

what is mitigation?

• Reduce or prevent the emission of greenhouse gases

• Tackling the root causes of climate change to limit future warming.

what is adaptation?

• Adjust to current or expected climate impacts.

• Minimizing the harm from the consequences of global warming.

How to assess the environmental footprint of a country?

three main approaches

• Production-Based Footprint

• Consumption-Based Footprint

• Territorial-Based Footprint

  1. Select relevant planetary boundaries (e.g., climate change, land use, nitrogen use).

  2. Define a control variable for each (e.g., CO₂ emissions, land area used).

  3. Downscale the global limit to the national level (e.g., per capita share).

  4. Compare the country's actual footprint to its fair share of the global safe space.

Production-Based Footprint

Measures the environmental pressure caused by production activities within the country.

• Reflects the country’s domestic industrial and economic activities.

(what we emit)

Consumption-Based Footprint

Measures the environmental impact of what people in the country consume, including imports.

• This approach captures the global impact of national consumption habits.

(what we demand)

Territorial-Based Footprint

Focuses on the environmental impacts that occur within the country’s borders, regardless of who caused them.

(what we experience)

what is scope 1?

Emissions that come directly from sources owned or controlled by the company.

(direct)

what is scope 2?

Emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, heat, or steam that the company uses.

these emissions happen at the power plant, not on-site.

(indirect)

what is scope 3?

Emissions that occur in the company’s value chain, both upstream and downstream.

These are not owned or directly controlled by the company but are linked to its activities.

(indirect)

what is the Social impact of environmental risks?

refers to how environmental problems—like pollution, climate change, or biodiversity loss—affect people’s lives, health, jobs, and wellbeing, especially in unequal ways or vulnerable population.

Environmental risks don’t impact everyone equally. They amplify existing social inequalities, especially if adaptation and transition policies aren’t designed with fairness in mind

how is sutainable development defined?

development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.