Have you heard of the Planetary Boundaries Framework? In September 2023, Johan Rockstrom made a statement in a scientific journal that the state of the Earth is akin to a hypertensive patient at high risk of a heart attack, increasing the attention of the public to the crisis of the Earth. Let’s explore how Rockstrom, with his beliefs and passion, has made significant contributions to environmental science.
Born in Sweden in 1965, Johan Rockstrom initially dreamed of becoming an agricultural economist and majored in soil science and hydrology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. He later studied agriculture at the National Institute of Agricultural Research in Paris. In 2004, he became the executive director of the Stockholm Environment Institute. The Stockholm Environment Institute holds high international recognition in the field of environmental studies, providing a good stage for Rockstrom to realize his beliefs and his research goal of ‘coexistence of humanity and the environment’ during his tenure until 2012. In particular, Rockstrom, along with Professor Carl Folke, established the Stockholm Resilience Center. In this organization, he focused on socio-ecological systems where humans and nature are not separated, but seen as an ‘integrated whole’, and he worked hard to study the environment and sustainable development.
Among the research achievements made by Rockstrom, one that has received the most international recognition was dreamt up right at the Stockholm Resilience Center. It is the ‘Planetary Boundaries Framework’ announced in 2009 while Rockstrom led the Center. This framework visualizes environmental problems threatening the Earth and humanity with nine keywords, each with its own unique limit. It suggests that if these limits are exceeded, the Earth’s environment will be subject to unpredictable fatal impacts. The significance of this framework lies in its ability to visually and quantitatively present the environmental crisis to the public in a way that is both visible and easy to understand.
Particularly in November of last year, a study on the Planetary Boundaries Framework published in Science Advances brought a great shock to the environmental science community and the public. The study announced that six out of the nine environmental indicators that make up the Planetary Boundaries Framework have already exceeded appropriate levels, turning the Earth into an environment uninhabitable for humans.
As the Planetary Boundaries Framework developed by the Resilience Center led by Rockstrom received significant attention in the international environmental academic community, Rockstrom gained substantial influence in the field of environmental science. Recognized for his contributions to the field of environmental science over nearly 40 years, Rockstrom was selected for The 100 Most Influential People of 2023 by Forbes and received honors such as the 2023 Public Value Award. Utilizing this expanded influence, Rockstrom sought to widely disseminate the messages he wanted to convey, not only in academia, but also in various mass media. From 2010 onwards, he gave several TED lectures and emphasized the ‘link between human survival and Earth survival’ as well as various speeches at prestigious universities such as MIT. In 2021, Rockstrom appeared in the Netflix documentary ‘Breaking Boundaries’ with British broadcaster and biologist David Attenborough, reminding the public once again of the importance of environmental security that has risen along with COVID-19.
The statement by Rockstrom, “The value of biodiversity is that it makes our ecosystems more resilient, which is a prerequisite for stable societies; its wanton destruction is akin to setting fire to our lifeboat,” is the most implicative of what the Planetary Boundaries Framework suggests to citizens worldwide. If you’ve developed an interest in Rockstrom and the Planetary Boundaries Framework, how about seeking out related TED talks or documentaries by Rockstrom?