Reconnecting to the Biosphere

Behavior ec. Climate change Policy design

Humanity has emerged as a major force in the operation of the biosphere, with a significant imprint on the Earth System, challenging social–ecological resilience. This new situation calls for a fundamental shift in perspectives, world views, and institutions. Human development and progress must be reconnected to the capacity of the biosphere and essential ecosystem services to be sustained.

Governance challenges include a highly interconnected and faster world, cascading social–ecological interactions and planetary boundaries that create vulnerabilities but also opportunities for social–ecological change and transformation. Tipping points and thresholds highlight the importance of understanding and managing resilience. New modes of flexible governance are emerging. A central challenge is to reconnect these efforts to the changing preconditions for societal development as active stewards of the Earth System. We suggest that the Millennium Development Goals need to be reframed in such a planetary stewardship context combined with a call for a new social contract on global sustainability. The ongoing mind shift in human relations with Earth and its boundaries provides exciting opportunities for societal development in collaboration with the biosphere—a global sustainability agenda for humanity.

From the issue entitled "Special Section Issue: 3rd Nobel Laureate Symposium on Global Sustainability / Guest Edited by Carl Folke and Johan Rockström"

EfD Authors

Professor Elinor Ostrom Research Associate

Keywords

Type of publication

COMMONS
Peer reviewed

Reference

Folke, Carl, Åsa Jansson, Johan Rockström, Per Olsson, Stephen R. Carpenter, F. Stuart Chapin III, Anne-Sophie Crépin, Gretchen Daily, Kjell Danell, Jonas Ebbesson, Thomas Elmqvist, Victor Galaz, Fredrik Moberg, Måns Nilsson, Henrik Österblom, Elinor Ostrom, Åsa Persson, Garry Peterson, Stephen Polasky, Will Steffen, Brian Walker, and Frances Westley. 2011. "Reconnecting to the Biosphere." Ambio 40 (7): 719-738.

Environment for Development

Environment for Development