Knowledge & debate

Last fall, a group of international top scientists presented the latest update on the status of the “planetary boundaries” (Richardson et al., 2023), concluding that we have now exceeded six out of the nine boundaries that collectively maintain a stable Earth system. The planetary boundaries present a scientific health check for climate, biodiversity, marine environment, and a range of other biophysical systems that together support life on Earth.

The Amazon rainforest is one of the tipping points that should be covered by a new planetary commons’ regime, according to the authors of the article.

Climate change could overtake land-use change as the main driver of biodiversity loss in the future, according to a new modelling study.

Excessive nitrogen inputs to aquatic ecosystems can have negative consequences such as harmful algae blooms, hypoxia, and fish kills. This pollution limits the amount of water to be safely used by humans.