The planetary boundaries and the Sustainable Development Goals.

6 min readApr 5, 2021

Thanks to technology, human beings are now aware of their environmental impact. This impact revolves around 9 main problems: Climate change, atmospheric aerosol load, ocean acidity, freshwater consumption, chemical pollution, agricultural land use, biodiversity loss, nitrogen and phosphorus flow and finally, ozone depletion. In order to sustain life on earth, it is compulsory to know the boundaries of the planet to define a safe operating space for human activities. Humans have transgressed some boundaries, yet, they still have the opportunity to shift the gear towards sustainable development by “moving simultaneously and collaborating a global level” (Johan Rockstrom, 2010, Ted Talk — ‘let the environment guide our development’) to build planetary resilience. Which begs the question, can Humans reach the 17 sustainable development goals within the planetary boundaries?

I- The planetary well-being at stake

Humans evolved to a degree they are now capable of quantifiying their impact on the planet “We now have robust and rising scientific evidence that we have entered a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, where humanity has become a global force of change at the planetary scale” (Crutzen 2002).

A. The planetary boundaries issue:

The planetary boundaries are the limits of earth’s regenerative capacity. Acknowledging the existence of these natural barriers allows humans to evolve and to operate safely without jeopardizing future generations. Exceeding those limits not only harms the planet in the short term, it also locks the ecosystem in an undesired situation (Permanent deforestation, species extinctions …) which will remain unchangeable. In fact, according to the Stockholm Resilience Centre, 4 planetary boundaries have been exceeded: Biosphere integrity, climate change, land-system change and biogeochemical flows (nitrogen and phosphorus flows) (see diagram in Annex I), hence the importance of staying within these boundaries. Some have been exceeded and time cannot be rewound to the pre-industrial era, nevertheless, addressing these problems as one race, one whole community by joining efforts could save the planet from a certain doom.

Indeed, these planetary boundaries are not designed to edict the way societies function, but they should be considered as the indicators tracking human impact on its environment.

B. The sustainable development goals and the planetary boundaries: The dilemma.

Since science has made possible the quantification of the effects of human activities on the planet, the number of years that will take humans to reach all the sustainable development goals can be estimated. These goals are: No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Reduced Inequality, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, Life Below Water, Life on Land, Peace and Justice Strong Institutions, Partnerships to achieve the Goal. It is estimated that they will be reached in 2030. For Johan Rockstrom, 2030 will only be a milestone and by considering the planetary boundaries, “four pathways exist to reach sustainable development in 2050:

- Scenario 1: Same — business as usual

- Scenario 2: Faster — accelerating economic growth

- Scenario 3: Harder — stronger efforts on all fronts

- Scenario 4: Smarter — transformational change”

(Source: Stockholm resilience centre, Report October 2018)

Indeed, the goal here is sustainable development, but the challenge is whether or not it is possible to reconcile economic growth (one of the goals of the SDGs) and the planetary boundaries. In fact, we live in a world with major inequality issues. Developed countries already enjoy their high living standards as a result of their many years of over-utilization of the natural resources. But developing countries will be unable to reach their level of development in 20 or even 30 years using ecofriendly methods, without mentioning that developed countries will also be evolving but at a faster pace.

II- Reaching the sustainable development goals within the planetary boundaries:

The Stockholm research center works on how to achieve the sustainable development goals within the planetary boundaries, and its main tool is the Earth 3 model.

A. The planetary boundaries: A framework underlying the sustainable development goals:

Using the Earth 3 model, which is used to quantify the pressure on the planetary boundaries, it appears that no country is fully meeting the requirement nor having the potential of achieving the 17 SDGs within the planetary boundaries with the current policies in place. However, by combining extraordinary efforts, bold and transformational policies “five turnarounds can be implemented:

1. Rapid renewable energy growth — sufficient to halve carbon emissions every decade from 2020.

2. Accelerated productivity in food chains — improving productivity by +1%/year.

3. New development models in the poorer countries — following models such as China, Scandinavia, Ethiopia or Costa Rica.

4. Active inequality reduction — ensuring that the richest 10% take no more than 40% of income.

5. Investment in education for all, gender equality, health, family planning — stabilizing the world’s population.”

(Source: Stockholm resilience centre, Report October 2018)

These advances have the ability to get the human kind closer to the sustainable development goals without transgressing boundaries and alleviating earth’s pressure, the only problem is that the execution of a shift on this scale is very costly.

B. The feasibility of reaching the SDGs within the planetary boundaries

A study, “from the Business & Sustainable Development Commission, finds business opportunities in the implementation of the SDGs in four systems — food, cities, energy and health — could be worth more than US$12 trillion annually for the private sector in 2030 (representing 10 percent of forecasted global output in that year). The investment required to achieve these opportunities is around US$4 trillion per year.” (Source: Stockholm resilience centre, Report October 2018). This means that it is very costly to carry out a policy shift of this magnitude. Also, the other problem is the bad political perception of public actions and the distrust felt by citizens towards their governments. In fact, they prefer when the market is free from the surveillance and the control of the government. The Stockholm resilience centre concluded that achieving the sustainable development goals within planetary boundaries is unlikely due to infrastructural incapacity and institutional stiffness.

III- Recommendations:

Achieving the SDGs within planetary boundaries may be impossible on the year 2050 but It is vital to know what is the most important. Reaching the SDGs is not more important than saving the planet from irreversible degradation. Human kind has been perverted by the social standards and values broadcasted by society through the media. Living in absolute luxury and considering that “making do” is “settling for less” made individuals unquenchable. If the developed countries put aside their expansionist ambitions and realize that Earth cannot be saved unless all countries work together, the SDGs will be reached within the planetary boundaries. Studies show that poverty and hunger can be eradicated easily if people, and especially the wealthy, weren’t so greedy.

Moreover, change cannot be done overnight. Aiming for greatness is a good state of mind, although rushing a U-turn is never a good idea. It is impossible to shift towards an eco-friendly industry due to its size. Instead, eco friendliness should be instilled in the upcoming generations. Gradually, change will occur and saving the planet will mean a lot more than it does to this generation.

Conclusion

The sustainable development goals are hard to reconcile with planetary boundaries. These goals are unreachable within the planetary boundaries unless the way society evaluates aspects of life changes. At the moment, there is no country able to go fully ecofriendly in the blink of an eye without putting in jeopardy its economy. Consequently, the sustainable development goals are unlikely to be reached without transgressing the planetary boundaries with the current policies in place.

References

The Brundtland Commission, 1987.
Johan Rockstrom, 2010, Ted Talk — ‘let the environment guide our development.’
Sustainable Development and Planetary Boundaries, BACKGROUND RESEARCH PAPER Johan Rockström and Jeffrey D. Sachs with Marcus C. Öhman and Guido Schmidt-Traub, May 2013.
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Report: “Transformation is feasible How to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals within Planetary Boundaries”, A report to the Club of Rome, for its 50 years anniversary 17 October 2018, October 2018.