Oct. 7, 2025
The 9 Planetary Boundaries: Earth’s 2025 Health Check
The planet just got a health check — and the results are alarming.
In this episode of Sustainability Forward, Wrishi and Carmine revisit one of their most downloaded topics: the 9 Planetary Boundaries Framework — the scientific model that helps us understand how human activity is pushing Earth beyond its safe operating space.
The 2025 update brings a sobering milestone: for the first time, scientists confirm that ocean acidification has crossed its boundary. That means 7 out of the 9 planetary boundaries — including climate change, biodiversity loss, and chemical pollution — are now beyond the safe zone.
But this episode isn’t about despair. It’s about direction. Wrishi and Carmine unpack what each boundary means for ecosystems, economies, and people — and highlight the real-world actions that can bring us back, from restoring forests and protecting water systems to accelerating decarbonisation and circular economy solutions.
Because understanding the boundaries isn’t just science — it’s about redefining how we live within them.
🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows.
🌐 sustainabilityforward.com
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Welcome back to Sustainability
Forward, the podcast where we
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talk about the important issues
surrounding sustainability and
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we try to find issues and
solutions to those issues.
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Now you may remember last year
we did an episode that was
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titled The Planetary Boundaries
or The Planetary Boundaries
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Framework.
In fact, it was one of our most
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downloaded episodes in that
season.
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In in that episode, we explain
the idea of these boundaries as
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kind of a dashboard for the
Earth, which helps us to see how
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far human activities pushing our
planet Earth beyond its safe
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operating space.
Yes, Richie, so very exciting
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topic and today we are coming
back because there are some
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updates.
First of all, what is this
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planetary boundary framework?
So it was first proposed in in
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29 by John, Joanne Rockham and
colleagues at the so-called
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Resilience Center.
So the model defines 9 critical
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hurt system processes like
climate, diversity, oceans, and
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land that regulates the planet
stability.
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The day is quite simple.
If we stay within these limits,
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humanity has a safe operating
space.
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If we cross them, we risk
destabilizing the HER system in
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ways that could be irreversible.
The framework was updated in
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20/15/2023 and now in 2025.
And this is what we're
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discussing today because they
just the new report, the
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planetary health check has been
just just came out and the for
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the first time scientists has
confirmed that ocean
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acidification boundary has been
breached.
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That doesn't sound good.
Now, ocean Ocean acidification
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might sound a bit technical, but
there's a simple way to think
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about it.
The ocean has been, of course,
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one of our biggest allies in
climate stability, absorbing 1/4
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of all the CO2 that has been
pumped into the atmosphere from
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human activities.
But that service comes with a
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cost.
The more CO2 the oceans absorb,
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the more acidic they become, and
that is the boundary that seems
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to have been breached now with
this update on the report.
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Yes, it is a big ecosystem.
It's ecosystem also for wheat
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for what we know very little
with a very fragile equilibrium.
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Now in that kind of ecosystem,
the acidity, it's a way at coral
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reef we can shellfish and even
treatance the Platon that from
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the base of the marine food web.
In other words, it risk
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destabilizing life in oceans.
And since so much of our food
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and climate stability depends on
healthy seas, there is high risk
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to manatee too.
And which is why this update is
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important.
With this new breach of the
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ocean acidification boundary, we
now have seven out of the 9
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planetary boundaries crossed.
And that is a huge warning sign.
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But it's also a reminder that
these boundaries aren't just
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abstract science.
We talked about it in the last
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season's episode, but but we'll
restate it again, that these
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planetary boundaries actually
translate into risks for
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ecosystems, economies and
people.
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Yeah, and today let's take a
fresh look at the planetary
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boundaries once again, bound by
one.
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Talk about the current state of
each and the highlight what on
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the action that could help to
bring us back towards a safer
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operating space.
Yeah.
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So starting with the number one,
the obvious one, climate change.
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So what is it?
It's the boundary that's being
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driven by emission of greenhouse
gases, especially carbon dioxide
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that traps heat.
And where is this boundary?
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Today?
The safe limit is 300 50 part of
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a million of CO2 in the
atmosphere today that number is
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actually at 420 to 425 PPM.
So clearly we crossed that
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boundary.
Warming, global warming is at
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1.2°C above pre industrial
levels.
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This is one of the more well
known topics.
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So the risks from crossing this
boundary are very clear.
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Leads to rising sea levels,
extreme heat which we have
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experienced over last few
summers, floods which are very
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unpredictable, crop failures and
tipping points like the collapse
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of the ice sheet.
The actions seem to be also
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clear, even though less actions
are being taken.
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But the actions are also clear.
It's about decarbonizing our
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energy system, accelerating the
adoption of renewables and
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protecting forests and improving
overall efficiency of our energy
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systems.
And let's go to the second
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boundary, the biodiversity, the
biosphere integrity.
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Here we measure the richness and
the balance of life on Earth,
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species, habitats and
ecosystems.
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Scientists use excision rate,
but Simply put we are losing
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species at 10 to 100 times
faster the natural background
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rates.
So only a few extinctions per
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year globally is what's
happening and the current it's
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this is what would be the safe
state.
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So having just a few extinctions
per year, but the current status
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with is 10 time 100 times
faster.
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We are hundreds now annually and
the risk are the loss of
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pollinator and we talked about
for example in our previous
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episode about the honey, the
collapse of food webs and the
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risk for less resilient
ecosystems.
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What can we do about it so we
can protect habitats, we can
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restore ecosystem, we can reduce
hunting and other fishing and
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carb pollution?
The third one is biogeochemical
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flows, particularly with respect
to nitrogen and phosphorus.
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Of course, as fertilizers we add
nitrogen and phosphorus to the
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soil, but a lot of this actually
flows into rivers and oceans,
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increasing the level of
nitrogen, phosphorus in water
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bodies.
What is the safe status of this?
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About half of what we apply
today.
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Nitrogen is today about three
times over the safe limit and
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phosphorus is at double the safe
limit.
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So clearly we've exceeded these
boundaries as well.
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The risks of this, although not
immediately visible, are
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enormous.
It leads to toxic algae blooms.
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There are dead zones in oceans.
So where it's supposed to be
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very biodiverse rich zones in
the oceans, they are they're all
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becoming dead.
And that then had an impact on
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the quality of drinking water as
well.
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What can we do in terms of
actions?
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We we can use fertilizers
smartly.
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We can think about nutrient
recycling, which in many places
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is already being done.
We can do regenerative farming.
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We've talked about that on this
podcast in the past.
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And then there's also a need to
think of dietary shifts.
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The way the world consumes today
is not necessarily helping this
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either.
And let's go to the other
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boundaries, the 4th 1 land
system change.
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So this measures how much of
earth natural land is covered
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especially with forest and how
much has been replaced with
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crops.
And see this, so a safe status
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will say that we should have at
least a 75% of regional forest
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protected.
Today we are closer to 60% and
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this is particularly worrying on
tropical forest.
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The risk are the loss of
university weaker carbon 6.
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We talked in the past about how
important it is to have a
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healthy land system in order to
be also on a carbon sinks and
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also disrupt and rainfalls
partners because of the change
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of moisture connected to the
soil actions.
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So stop deforestation, restore
degraded the lands.
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Let's nature do its job taking
back this land.
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Adopt sustainable farming.
Yeah.
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The next one, which is
freshwater use, I think that
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that that might be more visible.
It's basically the use of
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freshwater from sources like
rivers, lakes and aquifers.
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We draw this water for various
activities like farming,
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industry and homes.
And this is a critical, critical
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parameter because it impacts our
livelihoods quite, quite
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directly.
The safe limit is considered to
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be 4000 kilometer cube per year.
Globally.
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Today, this number is at 2600
kilometer cube per year.
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So in a sense we are within the
safe limit, but that doesn't
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mean it applies at all places
equally.
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There are certain regions in the
world where the crisis relating
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to this is quite acute.
Examples are India, Middle East,
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in the western part of the US.
This leads to the risk of river
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systems drying up completely,
which has been seen in some
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places.
Severe groundwater depletion,
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which is actually much more
common now and then.
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Water conflicts between between
regions, between countries.
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The actions that we can take are
utilization of efficient
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irrigation systems, reducing the
leaks and wastages in our water
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systems overall, and recycling
the water that we consume.
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In fact, the restoration of
wetlands is also considered to
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drive a reduction in freshwater
use.
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And then we have of course we
talk about the ocean
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acidification.
So this is about the ocean
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absorbing CO2, becoming more
acid and as you said Richie,
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lowering the argonite levels
needed by corals and shell
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building Organism.
So the boundaries was set at 80%
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of pre industrial saturation.
Now we are 84 and falling.
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So the 2025 report confirms that
this boundary has been breached.
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So the risk is for color relief
as we see in some part of the
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world, especially in the Pacific
area is collapsing, loss of
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marine, marine diversity,
weakened fish stock, reduced
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carbon storage by the ocean and
these boundaries directly linked
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to the CO2.
So, similar to climate change,
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these are the action that we
need to put in place.
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Yeah, kind of a double whammy,
right?
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Warms up the atmosphere as well
as creates acidification, CO2,
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so a big driver.
The next one is a novel entities
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which is basically chemicals and
plastics because of human
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activities will produce a lot of
substances which do not
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naturally breakdown.
Examples are plastics, PFAS,
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which are also known as forever
chemicals, pesticides and heavy
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metals.
When they're introduced into our
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ecosystem, they, they survive in
the ecosystem for for long
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durations of time, in fact
forever in some cases.
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So the current status and today
is a little bit difficult to
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understand because there is no
one single number, but clearly
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it has been exceeded in
different on different fronts.
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We produce hundreds and
thousands of synthetic
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chemicals.
Many are persistent and toxic as
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well.
The risks are quite obvious.
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It leads to contamination of
water and the soil system.
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It's harmful to human health.
A lot of the harms caused by
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forever chemicals have been well
documented.
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The introduction of micro
plastics and food chains is a
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major major issue as well.
And the long term effects today
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are not even fully known.
Actions could be around stronger
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chemical regulation, banning
certain persistent pollutants,
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focusing more on circular
economy which is a which is a
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major topic in Europe and needs
major infrastructure change for
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that to be implemented, and
things like cutting single use
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plastic as much as possible.
And then we talk about the
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stratospheric ozone depletion.
So a lot of people know the
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problem with the ozone layer and
this how it Shields us from
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harmful UV radiation.
Scientists measure its thickness
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in something called last Dobson
Unit.
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And this unit is recovering from
alarming state thanks to what
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happened with the Montreal
Protocol.
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One example of corporation
multilateralism that we had in
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the past across countries risk
in case this would be breached
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is a healthy problem, for
example, skin cancer or rock
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damage.
So and harms to different kind
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of ecosystems.
So the actions is keep enforcing
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these global treaties avoid
harmful substitutes.
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All right.
Next one is atmospheric aerosol
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loading.
So this is basically the
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presence of tiny particles in
the atmosphere which are
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produced as a result of
activities like burning coal,
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oil, biomass and dust.
These tiny particles end up
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affecting sunlight, they end up
affecting rainfall and as a
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result, human health.
Again, there is no single safe
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global number because we're
talking about many things as a,
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you know, as a group here.
But South Asia and parts of
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Africa are far above safe levels
in many of these, many of these
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particles being present in the
atmosphere.
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The risks are they relate to
premature deaths from air
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pollution, disrupted monsoons,
which is already being seen in
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India and Pakistan, you know,
where these countries depend
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quite significantly on monsoons
and uncertain effects on on
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global climate.
The actions we could take are
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cutting down coal, which is
happening in some places, not so
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much in others.
You know, use of clean transport
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mechanisms, reducing biomass
burning and improving air
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quality standards overall.
So the predatory boundaries
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framework is like a dashboard
for the Earth.
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00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,960
Yeah, exactly.
And after walking through these
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9 planetary boundaries, I mean
the picture is quite clear.
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Seven of them are now beyond the
state zone.
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That means the art system is
under real stress.
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Yes, very she, but it's I think
it's important to stress that
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this framework isn't just about
doom.
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It's also a map showing us where
there is car, where to focus our
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effort and the zone recovery.
As I mentioned before, proofs
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that we can act globally and
turn things around.
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00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:03,560
Exactly, there are examples of,
you know, reversing some of
239
00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:09,319
these challenges for ozone is a
is a good example.
240
00:17:10,839 --> 00:17:13,640
And every boundary that we've
discussed today comes with some
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00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,440
solutions which we have
mentioned in in today's
242
00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:20,359
discussion as well.
It might be as a result of
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00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:26,079
restoring ecosystems from
cutting down CO2 emissions to
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redesigning how we produce and
consume.
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00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:34,120
We've already made many of these
tools available to humanity.
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What's missing is the is the
speed and scale of this action
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and.
This is probably what the
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conversation is to shift.
Instead of asking is it too
249
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late, we should be asking OK
what it look like if we actually
250
00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,800
invest in bringing these
boundaries back into a safe
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00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,040
operating space?
Yeah, but at the end of the day,
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these aren't just scientific
thresholds.
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As we've said before, they're
about food on the table.
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They're about clean water,
stable climates, and the health
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of communities everywhere.
So very closely linked to our
256
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life.
Yes, well, the demand, the city
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boundaries remind us that we are
a part of connected ecosystem
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and if we care for that system,
it will care, it will take care
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of us.
Absolutely.
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I'm very happy, Carmina, that we
did a refresher on the 9th entry
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Boundaries.
It was obviously very well
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received in the past and we hope
that our listeners will find
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this update interesting.
It will also probably raise a
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few alarm bells, but more
importantly, it will show what
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are the actions that need to be
taken to address this.
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Thanks again to everyone for
joining us on Sustainability
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00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:55,680
Forward.
If you found this episode
268
00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:59,280
useful, please share it,
subscribe to our podcast and
269
00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:01,640
join the conversation on our
website
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00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:07,600
www.sustainabilityforward.com or
on LinkedIn where we post our
271
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,440
episodes regularly.
And of course, stay tuned
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00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:13,160
because the journey to
sustainability is still being
273
00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,960
written and we are here to keep
you forward-looking.
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Thank you, Carmen.
Thank you Rishi.
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Talk soon.
00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:14,240
Welcome back to Sustainability
Forward, the podcast where we
2
00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:18,080
talk about the important issues
surrounding sustainability and
3
00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:22,400
we try to find issues and
solutions to those issues.
4
00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:28,080
Now you may remember last year
we did an episode that was
5
00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,560
titled The Planetary Boundaries
or The Planetary Boundaries
6
00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,720
Framework.
In fact, it was one of our most
7
00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,480
downloaded episodes in that
season.
8
00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:44,840
In in that episode, we explain
the idea of these boundaries as
9
00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:50,320
kind of a dashboard for the
Earth, which helps us to see how
10
00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:55,000
far human activities pushing our
planet Earth beyond its safe
11
00:00:55,120 --> 00:01:00,360
operating space.
Yes, Richie, so very exciting
12
00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,519
topic and today we are coming
back because there are some
13
00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:07,120
updates.
First of all, what is this
14
00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:11,960
planetary boundary framework?
So it was first proposed in in
15
00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:17,920
29 by John, Joanne Rockham and
colleagues at the so-called
16
00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:22,880
Resilience Center.
So the model defines 9 critical
17
00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:28,440
hurt system processes like
climate, diversity, oceans, and
18
00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:31,400
land that regulates the planet
stability.
19
00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,800
The day is quite simple.
If we stay within these limits,
20
00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:37,760
humanity has a safe operating
space.
21
00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:43,000
If we cross them, we risk
destabilizing the HER system in
22
00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:47,880
ways that could be irreversible.
The framework was updated in
23
00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:53,080
20/15/2023 and now in 2025.
And this is what we're
24
00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:57,240
discussing today because they
just the new report, the
25
00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:03,320
planetary health check has been
just just came out and the for
26
00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,920
the first time scientists has
confirmed that ocean
27
00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,560
acidification boundary has been
breached.
28
00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:16,000
That doesn't sound good.
Now, ocean Ocean acidification
29
00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:20,240
might sound a bit technical, but
there's a simple way to think
30
00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,200
about it.
The ocean has been, of course,
31
00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:29,120
one of our biggest allies in
climate stability, absorbing 1/4
32
00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:34,600
of all the CO2 that has been
pumped into the atmosphere from
33
00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:38,840
human activities.
But that service comes with a
34
00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,600
cost.
The more CO2 the oceans absorb,
35
00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:48,920
the more acidic they become, and
that is the boundary that seems
36
00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:51,800
to have been breached now with
this update on the report.
37
00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:57,320
Yes, it is a big ecosystem.
It's ecosystem also for wheat
38
00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:01,880
for what we know very little
with a very fragile equilibrium.
39
00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:08,040
Now in that kind of ecosystem,
the acidity, it's a way at coral
40
00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:13,120
reef we can shellfish and even
treatance the Platon that from
41
00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:17,040
the base of the marine food web.
In other words, it risk
42
00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:21,920
destabilizing life in oceans.
And since so much of our food
43
00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:27,360
and climate stability depends on
healthy seas, there is high risk
44
00:03:27,640 --> 00:03:31,440
to manatee too.
And which is why this update is
45
00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,360
important.
With this new breach of the
46
00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:40,840
ocean acidification boundary, we
now have seven out of the 9
47
00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:45,200
planetary boundaries crossed.
And that is a huge warning sign.
48
00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,480
But it's also a reminder that
these boundaries aren't just
49
00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:54,760
abstract science.
We talked about it in the last
50
00:03:55,600 --> 00:04:01,040
season's episode, but but we'll
restate it again, that these
51
00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,400
planetary boundaries actually
translate into risks for
52
00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,640
ecosystems, economies and
people.
53
00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,680
Yeah, and today let's take a
fresh look at the planetary
54
00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:14,680
boundaries once again, bound by
one.
55
00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,959
Talk about the current state of
each and the highlight what on
56
00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:22,600
the action that could help to
bring us back towards a safer
57
00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,000
operating space.
Yeah.
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00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,960
So starting with the number one,
the obvious one, climate change.
59
00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,440
So what is it?
It's the boundary that's being
60
00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:37,720
driven by emission of greenhouse
gases, especially carbon dioxide
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00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:42,160
that traps heat.
And where is this boundary?
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00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:47,240
Today?
The safe limit is 300 50 part of
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00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:51,960
a million of CO2 in the
atmosphere today that number is
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00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:56,640
actually at 420 to 425 PPM.
So clearly we crossed that
65
00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:00,440
boundary.
Warming, global warming is at
66
00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:05,720
1.2°C above pre industrial
levels.
67
00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:08,040
This is one of the more well
known topics.
68
00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:12,040
So the risks from crossing this
boundary are very clear.
69
00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,880
Leads to rising sea levels,
extreme heat which we have
70
00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:20,440
experienced over last few
summers, floods which are very
71
00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:24,680
unpredictable, crop failures and
tipping points like the collapse
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00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:28,000
of the ice sheet.
The actions seem to be also
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00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,360
clear, even though less actions
are being taken.
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00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,880
But the actions are also clear.
It's about decarbonizing our
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00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:39,880
energy system, accelerating the
adoption of renewables and
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00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:44,400
protecting forests and improving
overall efficiency of our energy
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00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:49,280
systems.
And let's go to the second
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00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,120
boundary, the biodiversity, the
biosphere integrity.
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00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,560
Here we measure the richness and
the balance of life on Earth,
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00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:00,640
species, habitats and
ecosystems.
81
00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:06,440
Scientists use excision rate,
but Simply put we are losing
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00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:12,920
species at 10 to 100 times
faster the natural background
83
00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:18,840
rates.
So only a few extinctions per
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00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:22,880
year globally is what's
happening and the current it's
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00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:24,440
this is what would be the safe
state.
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00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,200
So having just a few extinctions
per year, but the current status
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00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:31,920
with is 10 time 100 times
faster.
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00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:37,760
We are hundreds now annually and
the risk are the loss of
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00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:41,200
pollinator and we talked about
for example in our previous
90
00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:45,800
episode about the honey, the
collapse of food webs and the
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00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,120
risk for less resilient
ecosystems.
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00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:52,400
What can we do about it so we
can protect habitats, we can
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00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,160
restore ecosystem, we can reduce
hunting and other fishing and
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00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:01,600
carb pollution?
The third one is biogeochemical
95
00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:05,040
flows, particularly with respect
to nitrogen and phosphorus.
96
00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:11,360
Of course, as fertilizers we add
nitrogen and phosphorus to the
97
00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:17,480
soil, but a lot of this actually
flows into rivers and oceans,
98
00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:21,280
increasing the level of
nitrogen, phosphorus in water
99
00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:25,120
bodies.
What is the safe status of this?
100
00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,480
About half of what we apply
today.
101
00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:33,720
Nitrogen is today about three
times over the safe limit and
102
00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,680
phosphorus is at double the safe
limit.
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00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:39,360
So clearly we've exceeded these
boundaries as well.
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00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,840
The risks of this, although not
immediately visible, are
105
00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:49,680
enormous.
It leads to toxic algae blooms.
106
00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,960
There are dead zones in oceans.
So where it's supposed to be
107
00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,960
very biodiverse rich zones in
the oceans, they are they're all
108
00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,720
becoming dead.
And that then had an impact on
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00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,560
the quality of drinking water as
well.
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00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:06,960
What can we do in terms of
actions?
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00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:11,040
We we can use fertilizers
smartly.
112
00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,040
We can think about nutrient
recycling, which in many places
113
00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,240
is already being done.
We can do regenerative farming.
114
00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:21,600
We've talked about that on this
podcast in the past.
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00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:24,760
And then there's also a need to
think of dietary shifts.
116
00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:29,160
The way the world consumes today
is not necessarily helping this
117
00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:32,919
either.
And let's go to the other
118
00:08:32,919 --> 00:08:35,840
boundaries, the 4th 1 land
system change.
119
00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:42,400
So this measures how much of
earth natural land is covered
120
00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,600
especially with forest and how
much has been replaced with
121
00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:49,080
crops.
And see this, so a safe status
122
00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:54,720
will say that we should have at
least a 75% of regional forest
123
00:08:55,160 --> 00:09:00,080
protected.
Today we are closer to 60% and
124
00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:04,720
this is particularly worrying on
tropical forest.
125
00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:10,360
The risk are the loss of
university weaker carbon 6.
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00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,440
We talked in the past about how
important it is to have a
127
00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:19,200
healthy land system in order to
be also on a carbon sinks and
128
00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,040
also disrupt and rainfalls
partners because of the change
129
00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:26,520
of moisture connected to the
soil actions.
130
00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,440
So stop deforestation, restore
degraded the lands.
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00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:36,000
Let's nature do its job taking
back this land.
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00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,320
Adopt sustainable farming.
Yeah.
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00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:43,600
The next one, which is
freshwater use, I think that
134
00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:48,280
that that might be more visible.
It's basically the use of
135
00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,520
freshwater from sources like
rivers, lakes and aquifers.
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00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:55,280
We draw this water for various
activities like farming,
137
00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,080
industry and homes.
And this is a critical, critical
138
00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,920
parameter because it impacts our
livelihoods quite, quite
139
00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,920
directly.
The safe limit is considered to
140
00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:10,600
be 4000 kilometer cube per year.
Globally.
141
00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:15,960
Today, this number is at 2600
kilometer cube per year.
142
00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:21,640
So in a sense we are within the
safe limit, but that doesn't
143
00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,520
mean it applies at all places
equally.
144
00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:30,680
There are certain regions in the
world where the crisis relating
145
00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:34,560
to this is quite acute.
Examples are India, Middle East,
146
00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:40,440
in the western part of the US.
This leads to the risk of river
147
00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:43,200
systems drying up completely,
which has been seen in some
148
00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:46,760
places.
Severe groundwater depletion,
149
00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,400
which is actually much more
common now and then.
150
00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,960
Water conflicts between between
regions, between countries.
151
00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:57,400
The actions that we can take are
utilization of efficient
152
00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:02,160
irrigation systems, reducing the
leaks and wastages in our water
153
00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:07,400
systems overall, and recycling
the water that we consume.
154
00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:11,120
In fact, the restoration of
wetlands is also considered to
155
00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:15,120
drive a reduction in freshwater
use.
156
00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:19,920
And then we have of course we
talk about the ocean
157
00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:22,680
acidification.
So this is about the ocean
158
00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:26,400
absorbing CO2, becoming more
acid and as you said Richie,
159
00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:30,440
lowering the argonite levels
needed by corals and shell
160
00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:34,840
building Organism.
So the boundaries was set at 80%
161
00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:39,920
of pre industrial saturation.
Now we are 84 and falling.
162
00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:44,360
So the 2025 report confirms that
this boundary has been breached.
163
00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:49,440
So the risk is for color relief
as we see in some part of the
164
00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:53,840
world, especially in the Pacific
area is collapsing, loss of
165
00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,800
marine, marine diversity,
weakened fish stock, reduced
166
00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:03,840
carbon storage by the ocean and
these boundaries directly linked
167
00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:06,960
to the CO2.
So, similar to climate change,
168
00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:10,400
these are the action that we
need to put in place.
169
00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:12,880
Yeah, kind of a double whammy,
right?
170
00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,840
Warms up the atmosphere as well
as creates acidification, CO2,
171
00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:21,280
so a big driver.
The next one is a novel entities
172
00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:26,080
which is basically chemicals and
plastics because of human
173
00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,840
activities will produce a lot of
substances which do not
174
00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:34,520
naturally breakdown.
Examples are plastics, PFAS,
175
00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:38,240
which are also known as forever
chemicals, pesticides and heavy
176
00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:41,280
metals.
When they're introduced into our
177
00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:45,080
ecosystem, they, they survive in
the ecosystem for for long
178
00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:48,760
durations of time, in fact
forever in some cases.
179
00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:53,800
So the current status and today
is a little bit difficult to
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understand because there is no
one single number, but clearly
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it has been exceeded in
different on different fronts.
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We produce hundreds and
thousands of synthetic
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chemicals.
Many are persistent and toxic as
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well.
The risks are quite obvious.
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It leads to contamination of
water and the soil system.
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It's harmful to human health.
A lot of the harms caused by
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forever chemicals have been well
documented.
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The introduction of micro
plastics and food chains is a
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major major issue as well.
And the long term effects today
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are not even fully known.
Actions could be around stronger
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chemical regulation, banning
certain persistent pollutants,
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focusing more on circular
economy which is a which is a
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major topic in Europe and needs
major infrastructure change for
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that to be implemented, and
things like cutting single use
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plastic as much as possible.
And then we talk about the
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stratospheric ozone depletion.
So a lot of people know the
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problem with the ozone layer and
this how it Shields us from
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harmful UV radiation.
Scientists measure its thickness
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in something called last Dobson
Unit.
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And this unit is recovering from
alarming state thanks to what
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happened with the Montreal
Protocol.
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One example of corporation
multilateralism that we had in
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the past across countries risk
in case this would be breached
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is a healthy problem, for
example, skin cancer or rock
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damage.
So and harms to different kind
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of ecosystems.
So the actions is keep enforcing
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these global treaties avoid
harmful substitutes.
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All right.
Next one is atmospheric aerosol
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loading.
So this is basically the
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presence of tiny particles in
the atmosphere which are
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produced as a result of
activities like burning coal,
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oil, biomass and dust.
These tiny particles end up
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00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:19,920
affecting sunlight, they end up
affecting rainfall and as a
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result, human health.
Again, there is no single safe
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global number because we're
talking about many things as a,
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you know, as a group here.
But South Asia and parts of
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00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:38,160
Africa are far above safe levels
in many of these, many of these
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00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:40,720
particles being present in the
atmosphere.
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The risks are they relate to
premature deaths from air
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pollution, disrupted monsoons,
which is already being seen in
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00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,840
India and Pakistan, you know,
where these countries depend
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quite significantly on monsoons
and uncertain effects on on
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global climate.
The actions we could take are
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cutting down coal, which is
happening in some places, not so
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much in others.
You know, use of clean transport
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mechanisms, reducing biomass
burning and improving air
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quality standards overall.
So the predatory boundaries
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framework is like a dashboard
for the Earth.
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00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,960
Yeah, exactly.
And after walking through these
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9 planetary boundaries, I mean
the picture is quite clear.
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Seven of them are now beyond the
state zone.
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That means the art system is
under real stress.
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Yes, very she, but it's I think
it's important to stress that
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this framework isn't just about
doom.
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It's also a map showing us where
there is car, where to focus our
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effort and the zone recovery.
As I mentioned before, proofs
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that we can act globally and
turn things around.
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00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:03,560
Exactly, there are examples of,
you know, reversing some of
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00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:09,319
these challenges for ozone is a
is a good example.
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00:17:10,839 --> 00:17:13,640
And every boundary that we've
discussed today comes with some
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00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,440
solutions which we have
mentioned in in today's
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00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:20,359
discussion as well.
It might be as a result of
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00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:26,079
restoring ecosystems from
cutting down CO2 emissions to
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00:17:26,079 --> 00:17:28,440
redesigning how we produce and
consume.
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00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:34,120
We've already made many of these
tools available to humanity.
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00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:39,000
What's missing is the is the
speed and scale of this action
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00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,520
and.
This is probably what the
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00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:44,560
conversation is to shift.
Instead of asking is it too
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00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:48,480
late, we should be asking OK
what it look like if we actually
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00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,800
invest in bringing these
boundaries back into a safe
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00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,040
operating space?
Yeah, but at the end of the day,
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00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:57,400
these aren't just scientific
thresholds.
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00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:01,480
As we've said before, they're
about food on the table.
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They're about clean water,
stable climates, and the health
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of communities everywhere.
So very closely linked to our
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00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:14,880
life.
Yes, well, the demand, the city
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boundaries remind us that we are
a part of connected ecosystem
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and if we care for that system,
it will care, it will take care
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of us.
Absolutely.
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I'm very happy, Carmina, that we
did a refresher on the 9th entry
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Boundaries.
It was obviously very well
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received in the past and we hope
that our listeners will find
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00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,680
this update interesting.
It will also probably raise a
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few alarm bells, but more
importantly, it will show what
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are the actions that need to be
taken to address this.
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Thanks again to everyone for
joining us on Sustainability
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00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:55,680
Forward.
If you found this episode
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00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:59,280
useful, please share it,
subscribe to our podcast and
269
00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:01,640
join the conversation on our
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00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:07,600
www.sustainabilityforward.com or
on LinkedIn where we post our
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00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,440
episodes regularly.
And of course, stay tuned
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00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:13,160
because the journey to
sustainability is still being
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00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,960
written and we are here to keep
you forward-looking.
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Thank you, Carmen.
Thank you Rishi.
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Talk soon.
