The Planetary Integrity Project In response to the urgent need for transformative global governance the Planetary Boundaries Initiative has joined a coalition of partners to work on the principle of ‘ecological integrity’. The coalition, called the Planetary Integrity Project (PIP)…
News
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS PUT PLANETARY BOUNDARIES ON THE WORLD’S AGENDA
by PBI •
After a long process, the United Nations has now formally adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. There are 17 goals, which are intended to guide the world community from 2015 to 2030, following up the earlier Millenium Development Goals. Although there…
REFUGEES: IS THIS THE FUTURE?
by PBI •
The predictions made by environmentalists are now coming true – but with a twist. The large numbers of refugees arriving in Europe are coming now not primarily because of climate change or environmental deterioration, but because of the political and…
THE GREAT ACCELERATION – UPDATED
by PBI •
On the same day as the new updated Planetary Boundaries analysis was published, two further closely related new studies came out as well: one on the ‘Great Acceleration’, the other on the Anthropocene’. Planetary boundaries, the Great Acceleration, and the…
What’s new about the Planetary Boundaries update?
by PBI •
A new version of the planetary boundaries analysis has just been published. Many of the authors are the same as those who wrote the initial articles in 2009. They haven’t changed the overall picture fundamentally, but they have tried to…
It’s Here: Planetary Boundaries 2.0
by PBI •
The highly anticipated updated concept of planetary boundaries has now been released by an international team of researchers in the Journal Science (16 January 2015). The new assessments and quantifications place climate change and the newly-termed “biosphere integrity” as core…
Anthropocene: Journey of a Concept
by PBI •
‘The Anthropocene’ is a concept that has become central to the planetary boundaries discourse. In summary, it raises the alarm that we are moving out of the favourable conditions of the Holocene into a new geological epoch created entirely by…
Black Friday Fever: It’s not only ‘consumer behaviour’ that needs addressing
by PBI •
2014 saw the biggest ‘Black Friday’ in the UK so far, the post-Thanksgiving retail discount day import from the US. The phenomenon started to filter in around 2003, with some maintaining scepticism about the American tradition; this year, however, it…
What governance system will truly protect planetary resilience? Comments from the SRC MOOC
by PBI •
The Planetary Boundaries and Human Opportunities MOOC, hosted by the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the SDSN, is now into its second week (see here for PBI’s article on the MOOC). What has been particularly interesting is the flourishing online community…
The implications of the ‘historic’ US-China deal
by PBI •
Hot on the heels of the European Union’s pledge to cut total emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, the announcement on the 12th November of the climate agreement between China and the US – the world’s two largest emitters…