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https://medium.com/circulatenews/how-the-circular-economy-can-help-us-stay-within-planetary-boundaries-a772f89d8be7>
"Humanity is reaching and exceeding the limits of the earth. This conclusion,
drawn in 2009 by a team of scientists from the Stockholm Resilience Centre
(SRC) confirmed what many had understood for decades. Led by Johan Rockström,
the SRC proposed a set of nine planetary boundaries which define the
biophysical limits of a stable and resilient planet. These limits are being
pushed up against and exceeded as a result of the extractive and polluting
nature of our current linear economy which has propelled us into a
human-dominated epoch: the Anthropocene. While humanity might be dominant, our
separation from nature is increasingly acknowledged as being to our own
detriment.
Our take-make-waste economy has led to widespread resource depletion. The pace
at which we are degrading soil threatens global food supplies. Many of the
minerals and metals commonly used in manufacturing everything from smartphones
to sunscreen are wasted and disposed of in ways that have serious environmental
consequences. Freshwater, essential to our existence and also the production
and supply of goods and services, while renewable, is a finite resource under
pressure. We now know not only that the earth has its lines that must not be
crossed, but that, since 2015, at least five already have been: climate change,
biosphere integrity (biodiversity loss), land-system change, biogeochemical
flows, and — most recently — novel entities, more commonly understood as
pollution. In the process of making, using, and disposing of items and services
needed to house, feed, fuel, and clothe the world we are pushing ourselves
outside a zone of planetary safety and into a place of increasing risk and
volatility.
Getting back within those boundaries is still possible. Humanity has already
proven that it is capable of coming together to take collective action. Think,
for example, of the ozone-protecting 1987 Montreal Protocol, ratified by
international governments and reflected in business decision making. But the
challenges are complex, and so are the systems that created them. We need
change that is systemic, not piecemeal."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
