Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches
Environmental sustainability boundaries can help us navigate a sustainable development trajectory, by evaluating environmental performance of current actions in relation to such boundaries. However, current definitions of environmental sustainability boundaries have shortcomings when used in environ...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abac77 |
| _version_ | 1797747849395437568 |
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| author | Eldbjørg Blikra Vea Morten Ryberg Katherine Richardson Michael Z Hauschild |
| author_facet | Eldbjørg Blikra Vea Morten Ryberg Katherine Richardson Michael Z Hauschild |
| author_sort | Eldbjørg Blikra Vea |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Environmental sustainability boundaries can help us navigate a sustainable development trajectory, by evaluating environmental performance of current actions in relation to such boundaries. However, current definitions of environmental sustainability boundaries have shortcomings when used in environmental assessments. The shortcomings include considerations of regional differentiation and transparency with respect to how uncertainty is addressed. This paper seeks to improve the definition and application of environmental sustainability boundaries in environmental assessments by reviewing existing approaches to set them and elaborating an analytical framework for defining, communicating and adopting environmental sustainability boundaries in assessments. 110 original environmental sustainability boundaries were identified from existing literature and grouped into 13 categories of boundary approaches. The framework addresses five components (objective, boundary principle, uncertainty principle, accepted levels of impacts, and scientific estimate), and recommends practices for each. The framework is recommended for defining, communicating and adopting environmental sustainability boundaries, to facilitate a consistent application of them in environmental assessments. The analysis of existing boundary approaches showed that they often handle value-based aspects (e.g. choice of uncertainty principle) differently. Thus, it is recommended that value-based aspects are communicated explicitly to enable a practitioner to consider how this resonates with his/her own values or the values of central stakeholders when adopting environmental sustainability boundaries in an environmental assessment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:56:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-397c5d75aa484486a6edd7b5d4bc54b7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:56:31Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-397c5d75aa484486a6edd7b5d4bc54b72023-08-09T14:52:06ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-01151010300310.1088/1748-9326/abac77Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approachesEldbjørg Blikra Vea0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3470-8811Morten Ryberg1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2589-8729Katherine Richardson2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3785-2787Michael Z Hauschild3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8331-7390Division of Sustainability, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark , 2800, Kgs. Lyngby DenmarkDivision of Sustainability, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark , 2800, Kgs. Lyngby DenmarkCenter for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen 2100, DenmarkDivision of Sustainability, Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark , 2800, Kgs. Lyngby DenmarkEnvironmental sustainability boundaries can help us navigate a sustainable development trajectory, by evaluating environmental performance of current actions in relation to such boundaries. However, current definitions of environmental sustainability boundaries have shortcomings when used in environmental assessments. The shortcomings include considerations of regional differentiation and transparency with respect to how uncertainty is addressed. This paper seeks to improve the definition and application of environmental sustainability boundaries in environmental assessments by reviewing existing approaches to set them and elaborating an analytical framework for defining, communicating and adopting environmental sustainability boundaries in assessments. 110 original environmental sustainability boundaries were identified from existing literature and grouped into 13 categories of boundary approaches. The framework addresses five components (objective, boundary principle, uncertainty principle, accepted levels of impacts, and scientific estimate), and recommends practices for each. The framework is recommended for defining, communicating and adopting environmental sustainability boundaries, to facilitate a consistent application of them in environmental assessments. The analysis of existing boundary approaches showed that they often handle value-based aspects (e.g. choice of uncertainty principle) differently. Thus, it is recommended that value-based aspects are communicated explicitly to enable a practitioner to consider how this resonates with his/her own values or the values of central stakeholders when adopting environmental sustainability boundaries in an environmental assessment.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abac77sustainabilityplanetary boundariesthresholdcarrying capacityenvironmental sustainability boundaryframework |
| spellingShingle | Eldbjørg Blikra Vea Morten Ryberg Katherine Richardson Michael Z Hauschild Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches Environmental Research Letters sustainability planetary boundaries threshold carrying capacity environmental sustainability boundary framework |
| title | Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches |
| title_full | Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches |
| title_fullStr | Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches |
| title_full_unstemmed | Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches |
| title_short | Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches |
| title_sort | framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches |
| topic | sustainability planetary boundaries threshold carrying capacity environmental sustainability boundary framework |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abac77 |
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