Humanity is well into the Anthropocene , the proposed new geological epoch where human pressures have put the Earth system on a trajectory moving rapidly away from the stable Holocene state of the past 12,000 years, which is the only state of the Earth system we have evidence of being able to support the world as we know it . These rapid changes to the Earth system undermine critical life-support systems with significant societal impacts already felt and they could lead to triggering tipping points that irreversibly destabilize the Earth systems. These changes are mostly driven by social and economic systems run on unsustainable resource extraction and consumption. Contributions to Earth system change and the consequences of its impacts vary greatly among social groups and countries. Given these interdependencies between inclusive human development and a stable and resilient Earth system an assessment of safe and just boundaries is required that accounts for Earth system resilience and human well-being in an integrated framework . Rockstrom et al propose a set of safe and just Earth system boundaries (ESBs) for climate, the biosphere, fresh water, nutrients, and air pollution at global and sub global scales. These domains were chosen for the following reasons. They span the major components of the Earth system (atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, biosphere, and cryosphere) and their interlinked processes (carbon, water and nutrient cycles), the ‘global commons’ that underpin the planet’s life-support systems and, thereby, human well-being on Earth; they have impacts on policy-relevant timescales; they are threatened by human activities; and they could affect Earth system stability and future development globally. Our proposed ESBs are based on existing scholarship, expert judgement, and widely shared norms, such as Agenda 2030. They are meant as a transparent proposal for further debate and refinement by scholars and wider society.
Rockstrom et al use three criteria to assess whether adhering to the safe ESBs could protect people from significant harm (Box 1):”interspecies justice and Earth system stability” “intergenerational justice” between past and present generations and present and future generations ; and “intragenerational justice” between countries, communities, and individuals through an intersectional lens.
These criteria sit within a wider Earth system justice framework that goes beyond planetary and issue-related justice to take a multi-level transformative justice approach focusing on ends (boundaries and access levels) and means.
Interspecies justice and Earth system stability
Interspecies justice aims to protect humans, other species and ecosystems, rejecting human exceptionalism. In many domains, interspecies justice could be achieved by maintaining Earth system stability within safe ESBs.
Intergenerational justice
Intergenerational justice examines relationships and obligations between generations, such as the legacy of greenhouse gas emissions or ecosystem destruction for youth and future people.
Achieving intergenerational justice requires recognizing the
potential long-term consequences of short-term actions and
associated trade-offs and synergies across time. They define two types of intergenerational justice: (between past and present; whether actions of past generations have minimized significant harm to current generations and (between present and future; the responsibility of current generations to minimize significant harm to future generations.
Intragenerational justice: between countries, communities and
individuals (I3)
Intragenerational justice includes relationships between present individuals, between states (international), among people of different states (global) and between community members or citizens (communitarian or nationalist). Intersectional justice
Considers multiple and overlapping social identities and categories (for example, gender, race, age, class, and health) that underpin inequality, vulnerability and the capacity to respond. Achieving intragenerational justice means minimizing significant harm caused by one country to another, one community to another and one individual to another. More details at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06083-8
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