Planetary Boundaries and Applications in Sustainability Assessment and Science-Based Target Setting

Dear Colleagues,

The growth in human population, wealth and associated production, and consumption of goods and services has led to increased pressure on the Earth system in terms of different types of emissions and resource extraction. This threatens the stability of the Earth system, which has been a cornerstone for the development and prosperity of contemporary society. Thus, the identification of planetary boundaries for keeping the Earth system in a stable state is an important input for the sustainable transformations of our society. The planetary boundaries are excellent for monitoring the state of the global environment. However, scientifically defining planetary boundaries is a continuous process. Thus, the introduction of new boundaries for other relevant Earth system processes and the refinement of existing boundaries is important to ensure that the planetary boundaries framework is relevant and representative in its coverage of Earth system process. Moreover, the boundaries have been translated and applied to facilitate “planetary boundary-thinking” for various actors. The downscaled boundaries can be used to set absolute limits to human activities at the relevant scale of decision-making, e.g., national, sectoral or company scale. The impacts pertaining to the activities can be related to the boundaries to gauge activities’ environmental sustainability performance, as performed in absolute environmental sustainability assessments, and for setting science-based targets for reducing future impacts to within the activity specific boundaries. Furthermore, the planetary boundaries can be used to support the development of specific production and consumption systems that respect the boundaries of the Earth system.

Against this backdrop, the objective of this Special Issue is to expand the operational understanding of planetary boundaries and advance their application to “planetary boundary-thinking” to facilitate a sustainable transformation of society.

Possible topics for contributions include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Definitions and discussions of current and potential planetary boundaries and their manifestation at regional scales;
• Translations of global/regional boundaries to the relevant level of decision-making;
• Methods for the assessment of anthropogenic systems’ impacts relative to planetary boundaries and their application to specific systems;
• Assessments of how individual anthropogenic systems, or humanity as a whole, may develop within the constraints of planetary boundaries.

Dr. Morten Walbech Ryberg
Dr. Anders Bjørn
Guest Editors

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• planetary boundaries
• absolute envionmental sustainability assessment
• safe operating space
• science-based targets