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There's the scientific evidence today to show

that we may be hitting the ceiling of what the

Earth, or home and the base for our modern economy

can sustain without causing surprise and

potentially catastrophic outcomes for humanity.

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So the question is, are we destabilizing

the entire planet?

Earth is actually lulling us into a comfort zone.

It's doing everything it can to stay in the

equilibrium where it has been for the last 10000

years, which is the only state we know that

can support human development.

The modern, globalized consumption based economy

is hitting the ceiling and causing major impacts.

What are the processes in the environment that

we have to deal with, and cater for at the

global scale to allow earth to support

the modern economy?

In that context science has developed a new

framework that we call Planetary Boundaries.

The analogy can be brought down

to our own human body.

At 41 or 42 degrees Celsius of body temperature,

we also change state from a living state to a dead state.

A very distinct tipping point.

So the planetary boundary is placed at 38

degrees celsius equivalent of body temperature,

which is the point where you enter a danger zone.

It may surprise you that among those nine

proposed boundaries, is not only climate change.

It's not only Stratospheric Ozone, which are

obviously global, it's also the slow variables of

Biodiversity Loss, land use change,

freshwater use, which control

the underlying resilience and stability

of the Earth System.

All the nine boundaries actually interact.

Whether we like it or not,

we cannot deal with one thing at a time.

You know, when ice melts, it consumes energy,

so the day when the ice is gone,

the ocean heat will start truly impacting

on the atmosphere.

So this is a new panorama of global risks,

on the environmental stage, which is not only

about the environment, but is really about

linking to society.

We started to see effects on extreme weather events,

particularly when it comes to droughts and floods,

which are influencing the world market price

of food, which in turn propels riots and

unrest in many of the poorest urban regions

in the world.

So suddenly you can no longer talk of

environmental issues here,

and social issues here,

democracy, growth and ecology, are today,

entirely intertwined, and interdependent.

196 countries now need to somehow move very fast

in the same direction.

It is something more about leadership,

at the global scale, and how to achieve that,

I think is the big question.

I think the time is so opportune right now,

to rethink some of our governance assumptions

at the international level.

And this can be done even on an open market,

so for example a global carbon tax, or

a very strong cap and trade system,

so business as usual is not the future.

We need major transformative change.

My idea, based on science, is that humanity

needs a great transition to global sustainability

within the safe operating space

of planetary boundaries.

A new insight challenging science,

challenging societies for a safe future.

(upbeat music)