Planetary boundaries

Johan Rockström presented today at a seminar at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise his latest work together with international collegues; Planetary Boundaries - an explaration of the safe operating space for humanity. In this fascinating and fully-holistical piece of scientific work many important key-insights are presented. The study treats nine planetary boundaries which, being trespassed, the resilience of the Earth as a system is alarmingly undermined. Results show that 3 out of 9 planetary boundaries, climate change, the biogeochemical nitrogen-cycle and biodiversity have been passed the limit of safe operating space.

What can be learned from this important contemporary holistical screening of the planets ecosystemservice functions?

First and foremost, the climate negotiations need to take into account the function of ecosystems and biodiversity as an essential aspect as they help to mitigate climate change.

Secondly, at the longer perspective, we need really to start thinking to modify our economical system. The current driving forces in the economical system are central aspects of unsustainability. We need to transform the economical system so as to be integrated with the ecological, biophysical boundaries the planet poses. We need to understand that the economy is completely dependent on healthy ecosystems.

What a marvelous piece of human history. We can co-create and co-transform the way society is designed, re-value our relationship to time and money and become more cultural so as to replace our dysfunctional cosumption-oriented lifestyle.

Let´s do this.

An alternative to conventional governance

The first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economy, Elinor Ostrom, has with her science opened up an alternative to conventional governance. State or privatized governance over whatever good or natural resource have been the conventional up to now while common governance usually has been regarded as a form of political statement and much doubtful. Elinor studies show that a critical limit in order to ensure a good function of common governance seems to be 15 000 inhabitants. After that limit is trespassed, the agreements among the individuals sharing the resource seem to be easily disrupted and inorder emerges. Also, Elinor shows with her studies 5000 examples of successfull common governance of natural resources ranging from fisheries, forests and grazing lands. This has enormous potential into developing into many more implemented examples. The prize winner could not have been presented to the world with a better timing. Understanding that political systems are not capable in dealing with humanities problems in such a paste that is needed, we rather will have to look in taking things in our own hands and forming communities again so as to live locally, thinking globally - acting glocally!