Search Climate Insights Directory

This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics examines the concept of 'temperature overshoot'—where global warming exceeds 1.5°C to 2°C before returning to those levels—and the associated risks of triggering irreversible climate tipping points. It argues that while the chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C by 2100 is now 'virtually zero', minimizing the magnitude and duration of overshoot is critical to avoid catastrophic Earth system collapses. The document contrasts dangerous climate tipping points with 'positive socio-economic tipping points' that can accelerate decarbonization, while warning that reliance on carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and geoengineering introduces severe risks and does not replace the need for immediate, deep emissions cuts.

The report "Resilience Science Must-Knows" provides a science-based framework for decision-makers to build systemic resilience. It distills decades of research into nine core principles, emphasizing that resilience is not merely "bouncing back" but the capacity to cope, adapt, and transform. The document highlights the urgency of this approach as the Earth enters the Anthropocene, where human activity pushes planetary boundaries and creates cascading risks across interconnected global systems.

The report "Resilience Science Must-Knows" synthesizes decades of research into nine fundamental principles designed to guide decision-makers in building systemic resilience. It defines resilience as the capacity to live and develop amidst change and uncertainty, emphasizing a balance between coping, adapting, and transforming systems to ensure human prosperity within planetary boundaries.

This report by the South African Institute of International Affairs provides a framework for South Africa's energy transition by 2050, advocating for a shift from growth-centric economic models toward 'Regenerative Prosperity' and sustainable resource management.

This policy brief by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) argues that geoengineering technologies are speculative 'fixes' that fail to address the root causes of the climate crisis and instead risk accelerating biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and human rights violations.

The Stockholm Environment Institute, in collaboration with Future Earth, the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, proposes a dashboard based on climate and nature loss planetary boundaries to guide a sustainable recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

This research paper examines the compatibility of the planetary boundaries framework with democratic decision-making in earth system governance, proposing a deliberative approach to balance expert scientific warnings with democratic legitimacy.

A statement by Friends of the Earth International and partner organizations outlining requirements for the post-2020 biodiversity goals succeeding the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, emphasizing planetary boundaries, participatory processes, and the rejection of market-based mechanisms.

A statement by Friends of the Earth International and partner organizations outlining requirements for the Convention on Biological Diversity's post-2020 targets, emphasizing planetary boundaries, participatory processes, and the rejection of corporate influence and biodiversity metrics.

This research paper uses a simulation-based multi-criteria land use optimization procedure to identify global land-use scenarios that balance terrestrial carbon storage, biodiversity conservation, and food supply for 9 billion people within the Planetary Boundaries framework.

This briefing by the Stockholm Environment Institute explores the operationalization of the Planetary Boundaries framework for the European Union. By downscaling global safe operating spaces using an equal-per-capita allocation, the document assesses the EU's environmental performance and suggests entry points for integrating these boundaries into EU policy-making to ensure the region lives within planetary limits.

This policy brief explores the application of the Planetary Boundaries framework to EU policy-making, proposing an equal-per-capita allocation method to translate global limits into EU-scale benchmarks. It finds that the EU exceeds its fair share of the global safe operating space in several key areas and suggests that while EU policy instruments offer entry points for mainstreaming these boundaries, they currently fail to address process interactions or the EU's international environmental footprint.

This policy brief explores how the Planetary Boundaries framework can be used to define the 'global level of ambition' for the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It argues that by downscaling global environmental limits to national or regional levels and combining them with consumption-based accounting, countries can better implement Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 12 on Sustainable Consumption and Production.

This research paper explores the concept of a planetary boundary for chemical pollution (PBCP), arguing that the Earth has a finite capacity to assimilate chemical pollution and that current control measures are insufficient to protect ecosystem and human viability.

This research synthesis brief from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) examines the challenges of managing chemicals for sustainable development, focusing on the gap in chemical safety between developed and developing nations, the role of international agreements like SAICM, and the need for new hazard assessments to address planetary boundary threats.

This research paper proposes a revised planetary boundary for human 'blue' water consumption (PB-Water) by incorporating a bottom-up quantification of local water availabilities and environmental flow requirements, resulting in a lower boundary estimate than previous top-down analyses.

This research paper examines the conflict between global freshwater requirements and the dual goals of carbon sequestration and food production by 2050, concluding that the water costs of sequestration would exceed planetary boundaries and worsen river depletion.

The report analyzes the failures of 'first wave' environmentalism surrounding the 1987 Bruntland Report and the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to provide lessons for 'second wave' environmentalism in 2012. It evaluates the High Level Panel on Global Sustainability's efforts to address these errors through a focus on relative urgency, a narrative on green growth, and engagement with mainstream economic planning.

This report, produced by leading research institutes to support political preparations for Rio2012 and the UN year of Sustainable Energy for All, proposes a set of strategic principles to enable a global energy transition and avoid large-scale crises.

The 'Resilience Science Must-Knows' fact sheet, produced by the Global Resilience Partnership, Stockholm Resilience Centre, and Future Earth, outlines nine core scientific principles for decision-makers to build systemic resilience. It defines resilience as the capacity to cope, adapt, and transform amidst uncertainty, emphasizing that human well-being is dependent on the stability of the Earth system and planetary boundaries.