Planetary Boundaries

Source: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries.html

The planetary boundaries concept presents a set of nine planetary boundaries within which humanity can continue to develop and thrive for generations to come

In 2009, former centre director Johan Rockström led a group of 28 internationally renowned scientists to identify nine of the processes that regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth system. Updates were published in 2015, 2022, 2023 and 2025.

The scientists proposed quantitative planetary boundaries within which humanity can continue to develop and thrive for generations to come. Crossing these boundaries increases the risk of generating large-scale abrupt or irreversible environmental changes. Since then the planetary boundaries framework has generated enormous interest within science, policy, and practice.

Present day, the impact of human activities have already transgressed 7/9 of these boundaries. The seven breached planetary boundaries are: Climate Change, Biosphere Integrity, Land System Change, Freshwater Use, Biogeochemical Flows, Novel Entities, and Ocean Acidification (new in 2025). All of these seven boundaries show worsening trends. Only Ozone Depletion and Aerosol Loading remain in the safe zone (information here).