Publications

Researchers find that achieving access to minimum resources and services for all whilst safeguarding the stability of the Earth system requires redistribution and societal transformations. In a new study published in the journal Nature Sustainability, an international team of scientists from the Earth Commission, convened by Future Earth, investigates the Earth system impacts of escaping poverty and […]

What businesses and cities must do to stay within ‘safe and just’ environmental limits for carbon, water, nutrients, land and other natural resources is the subject of a new set of recommendations from Earth Commission experts. The authors have published key knowledge gaps for researchers to help cities and businesses to operate within Earth system […]

Multiple climate tipping points could be triggered if global temperature rises beyond 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, according to a major new analysis co-authored by several Earth Commissioners published in the journal Science. Even at current levels of global heating the world is already at risk of passing five dangerous climate tipping points, and risks increase with each […]

In June 2022 the Earth Commission achieved some important milestones: Its first major papers were submitted to high impact, scientific journals. Publication and launch of the results will depend on the peer review process, but is anticipated to take place in early 2023.

Despite decades of increasing investment in conservation, ‘bending the curve’ of biodiversity decline has not succeeded. Scientists argue that stronger outcomes for biodiversity conservation can be attained if conservation actions are combined with justice measures to tackle the underlying causes of decline.

Why should social scientists engage in environmental target setting? This question is discussed by researchers in the Earth Commission’s Transformations Working Group in the article Reconciling safe planetary targets and planetary justice in the journal Earth System Governance. Led by professor Joyeeta Gupta, co-chair of the Earth Commission, the group highlights the need to consider justice and […]

In the lead up to the UN meeting Stockholm +50, the co-chairs Johan Rockström, Joyeeta Gupta and Qin Dahe presented the Earth Commission in the commentary Stockholm to Stockholm: Achieving a safe Earth requires goals that incorporate a just approach in One Earth. Already in the first UN Conference on the human environment, held in Stockholm in […]

For the first time, the Earth Commission has brought together the complexity of humans living on Earth in a framework that defines a challenging and fundamental core pillar for their work: how to determine what’s “safe and just” for Earth’s systems and the people who rely on them.

A ‘safety net’ made up of multiple, interlinked and ambitious goals is needed to tackle nature’s alarming decline. No single goal can capture the broad range of characteristics that need to be sustained, concludes a large international team of researchers analysing the new goals for nature being drafted by the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity. […]