Sustainability. Planetary boundaries: guiding human development on a changing planet.
Will Steffen, Katherine Richardson, Johan Rockström, Sarah E Cornell, Ingo Fetzer, Elena M Bennett, Reinette Biggs, Stephen R Carpenter, Wim de Vries, Cynthia A de Wit, Carl Folke, Dieter Gerten, Jens Heinke, Georgina M Mace, Linn M Persson, Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Belinda Reyers, Sverker Sörlin
Author Information
Will Steffen: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden. Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. will.steffen@anu.edu.au.
Katherine Richardson: Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, University of Copenhagen, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Universitetsparken 15, Building 3, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Johan Rockström: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
Sarah E Cornell: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
Ingo Fetzer: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
Elena M Bennett: Department of Natural Resource Sciences and McGill School of Environment, McGill University, 21, 111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC H9X 3V9, Canada.
Reinette Biggs: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden. Centre for Studies in Complexity, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa.
Stephen R Carpenter: Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin, 680 North Park Street, Madison WI 53706 USA.
Wim de Vries: Alterra Wageningen University and Research Centre, P.O. Box 47, 6700AA Wageningen, Netherlands. Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, Netherlands.
Cynthia A de Wit: Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
Carl Folke: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden. Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden.
Dieter Gerten: Research Domain Earth System Analysis, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Telegraphenberg A62, 14473 Potsdam, Germany.
Jens Heinke: Research Domain Earth System Analysis, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Telegraphenberg A62, 14473 Potsdam, Germany. International Livestock Research Institute, P.O. Box 30709, Nairobi, 00100 Kenya. CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization), St. Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia.
Georgina M Mace: Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research (CBER), Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Linn M Persson: Stockholm Environment Institute, Linnégatan 87D, SE-10451 Stockholm, Sweden.
Veerabhadran Ramanathan: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, 8622 Kennel Way, La Jolla, CA 92037 USA. TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) University, 10 Institutional Area, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, Delhi 110070, India.
Belinda Reyers: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden. Natural Resources and the Environment, CSIR, P.O. Box 320, Stellenbosch 7599, South Africa.
Sverker Sörlin: Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10044 Stockholm, Sweden.
The planetary boundaries framework defines a safe operating space for humanity based on the intrinsic biophysical processes that regulate the stability of the Earth system. Here, we revise and update the planetary boundary framework, with a focus on the underpinning biophysical science, based on targeted input from expert research communities and on more general scientific advances over the past 5 years. Several of the boundaries now have a two-tier approach, reflecting the importance of cross-scale interactions and the regional-level heterogeneity of the processes that underpin the boundaries. Two core boundaries—climate change and biosphere integrity—have been identified, each of which has the potential on its own to drive the Earth system into a new state should they be substantially and persistently transgressed.
