1060. Measuring "Doughnuts": It Is Possible to Ensure a Decent Life for All Humanity within Planetary Boundaries

Humanity is moving towards an ecologically unstable state. Although human resource exploitation has reached an unprecedented level, many people worldwide still struggle to make a decent living. The concept of planetary boundaries, which defines the limits within which the Earth system can maintain its own resilience, proposes "a safe operating space for humanity." On the other hand, the resilience of the Earth system and the welfare of humanity are inextricably linked, and the degree of unsustainable exploitation and abuse of resources is largely due to socio-economic factors, while the impact on the Earth system varies from country to country and social strata. For this reason, it has been proposed that the limits of the Earth system be defined in terms of safety and justice, and that they should be evaluated not only globally but also at the local level.

However, limited evidence exists on whether current population trends and technological levels can achieve a safe and equitable situation within the realm.

A paper published in the Journal of Cleaner Production applied the concept of doughnut economics, which advocates the realization of social justice (a society without poverty and inequality) without destroying the natural environment and attempted to verify whether there is a safe and just operating space where it is possible for all of humanity to meet basic needs without disturbing the Earth system. To this end, the authors of the paper modelled the material and energy requirements to meet basic needs under various technological progress scenarios.

This study analyzed the environmental impact of a basket of goods representing basic needs for the first time through life cycle analysis and evaluated it in relation to planetary boundaries. The authors found that while it is theoretically possible to meet the basic needs of 10.4 billion people, ensuring safe climatic conditions will require large-scale transformation across all sectors and dietary changes, given the constraints of carbon dioxide emissions, biodiversity loss, and biogeochemical cycles.

The paper highlights, among other things, the need to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions, biodiversity loss, and phosphorus and nitrogen-related emissions through research investments that lead to improved agricultural practices and improved material cycles. The paper also emphasized that there are significant regional differences in ecosystem service delivery systems, basic needs, environmental impacts, and Earth system boundaries, thus research that addresses the challenges of each of these regional differences is important.

Reference
Hauke Schlesier et al, Measuring the Doughnut: A good life for all is possible within planetary boundaries, Journal of Cleaner Production (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141447
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141447

Contributor: IIYAMA Miyuki, Information Program