The resilience of the planet depends on human efforts to reduce social gaps and promote environmentally conscious businesses. Are we in time to avoid irreversible destruction? 

Geosciences study the causes that originate the natural phenomena that occur on our planet, the way in which they interact with different ecosystems, oceans, atmosphere, rivers, lakes, glaciers, soils, their interconnection between these systems and their interaction with human beings.

Through it, the past is investigated, the present is measured and the future behavior of the planet is modeled. “Any phenomenon that occurs can have direct or indirect impacts on living beings, people's activities and, therefore, positive or negative repercussions on the operations of companies,” he says. Elizabeth Cardona Rendon, Geosciences Manager at SURA Insurance.

Within the environmental agenda, planetary boundaries are considered an important guide to set goals and develop solutions that ensure the sustainability of the planet and the continuity of life. Some of these goals, such as reducing emissions into the air, water, and soil, controlling the degradation of natural habitats and reducing the loss of biodiversity, among others, They serve as a basis for designing policies, action plans and directing efforts to reduce the vulnerability of populations to global environmental changes.

The above, Elizabeth Cardona Rendon adds, can be achieved through the strengthening of mediating factors such as "good governance, use of technologies, financing and strengthening resilience and investing in cultural and behavioral changes.”

Additionally, he states that Planetary boundaries are an important input for defining strategies clear adaptation and mitigation measures, as well as to implement timely actions that contribute to minimizing adverse impacts on society, the environment and the economy,” adds Elizabeth Cardona Rendon.

What and how many are the planetary boundaries

To meet the challenge of maintaining the stability of the planet and mitigating anthropogenic impacts, Johan Rockström of the Stockholm University Resilience Centre, together with a group of twenty-eight other scientists from different institutions worldwide, proposed a methodological framework that they called “planetary boundaries.”

These aim to quantitatively define the limits for some variables that describe the functioning of different Earth systems within which humanity can safely operate. In other words, planetary boundaries are processes that are considered fundamental to regulating the innate resilience of the planet.

In turn, this group of scientists proposed ranges that allow identifying the state of each limit, in addition to establishing the border that would prevent an irreversible change on the planet due to human action.

Within this framework, nine key planetary boundaries have been defined: 

• Climate Change. Global variation in the Earth's climate due to the high concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere, a product of human activities.
• Integrity of the biosphere. It is caused by the extinction of animal and plant species and the loss of the diversity of functions they perform.
• Alteration of biogeochemical flows. At this planetary boundary, the phosphorus and nitrogen cycles are being addressed, which are being altered by the production of food that requires fertilizers that, after being applied, go into the soil and are mostly transported by water to different ecosystems.
• Change in land use. It is the process by which human activities alter the natural landscape.
• Stratospheric ozone depletion. Depletion of the ozone layer as a result of the release into the atmosphere of certain chemicals used as refrigerants, solvents or propellants.
• ocean acidification. Increase in water acidity mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels and, to a lesser extent, changes in land use.
• Use of fresh water. Decrease in available fresh water due to agricultural and industrial production.
• Aerosol load in the atmosphere. Quantity of small solid particles (soot, dust, salts) or liquids, suspended in the air.
• Introduction of new entities. Soil and water pollution, by man-made substances such as pesticides, radioactive materials or heavy metals.

Not all limits manifest themselves on the same scale. As Dr. Will Steffen, Climate Advisor at the UN Climate Change Agency, explains, Climate Council and researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, “planetary boundaries are applicable at large scales, such as global scales or large biomasses such as the Amazon rainforest or large ocean basins. They are not designed to operate according to local ecosystems, national borders or economic sectors.” This implies a major challenge when it comes to implementation.

Within the proposed limits there are two that were classified as central due to their importance in planetary balance: the climate change and integrity of the biosphere“Traversing any one of these could, by itself, bring the Earth system into a new state,” says Dr Steffen.

“It has also been suggested that new entities – completely new materials, such as plastics, chemical contamination, radioactive materials – could be a central boundary, but that has not yet been decided,” the scientist adds.

“We are in the sixth mass extinction in the history of the planet; but the first extinction of species caused by another species,” Johan Rockstrom

Steffen points out that boundaries have connections to each other. What does this mean? That reducing one's impact could lead to positive or negative changes in others. Furthermore, he adds, "transgressing one increases the risk that human activities may inadvertently increase the possibility of the Earth system entering a much less hospitable state, undermining efforts to reduce poverty and leading to deterioration of human well-being in many parts of the world, including developed countries," said Dr. Steffen.

Take action

The international scientific community has highlighted the urgent need to take action to make socio-ecosystems more resilient and able to adapt to phenomena such as severe droughts or harsh winters caused by climate change.

The Stockholm Institute has proposed the following five transformations that would allow us to achieve a safer space. This implies making radical changes in the way we think, consume and produce.

• Rapid growth of renewable energy
• Accelerating sustainable food chains
• New development models for the poorest countries
• Active reduction of inequality
•  Investment in education for all, gender equity and health

Elizabeth Cardona Rendon emphasizes that talking about planetary limits is also talking about social and economic gaps. “The way we produce and consume is highly linked to the economic model. Therefore, it is necessary to make profound changes where value is given to finite natural resources, projecting them as natural capital in operations and the Business development and looking for ways to continue satisfying human needs without degrading ecosystems," says the Geosciences expert.

“This - he adds - implies a radical change in the value system of human beings and in the lifestyle we have been accustomed to in recent years. There is a need to return to the essential, to the natural, recovering spirituality and connection with nature.”

In closing, he warns that planetary boundaries determine a safe development space for humanity and that, when these boundaries are crossed, the balance and resilience of the planet are put at risk. “So far,” he says, “five of the nine boundaries have been transgressed.” These are climate change, biosphere integrity, biogeochemical flows, changes in land use and new entities, “which brings negative impacts for people and makes it evident that current human development is unsustainable.” 

The message carries a warning: the impacts of transgressing boundaries will not respect national or cultural borders and will have the greatest impact on the most vulnerable people. Knowing the planetary boundaries and their implications is the first step to developing sustainably.

SURA Insurance It has a geosciences area made up of professionals specializing in different subjects, from geophysics and hydrometeorology to geographic and cadastral information systems, who put their knowledge to work for clients to provide them with visibility and tools that allow them to quantify potential impacts and make management and financing decisions with a lower level of uncertainty.