Impacts of human agency have become a major driver in the Earth System, with magnitude comparable to that of natural occurring global processes. Several earth system processes are under substantial pressure.  These human induced pressures are likely to increase, potentially leading to undesirable changes at planetary scale. In that context, the Planetary Boundaries concept has been put forward aiming at defining a “safe operating space” for future endurance of humanity: relevant processes were identified with associated boundaries that, if respected, would avoid large-scale or irreversible change. The present study explores how human driven resource use relates to the Planetary Boundaries concept, through a water-food-energy-climate nexus perspective. It aims at identifying alternatives for the consideration of biophysical constraints in ways resources are modelled, and it presents an account of the current elements that hinder the integration of new constraints. The study found that existing Integrated Assessment Models and conceptual models for exploring Climate-Land-Energy-Water Strategies present important contributions, but further integration is necessary. Furthermore, decision-making support tools in these models were designed to assess mitigation options for climate, but cannot yet be used for multi-goal or multi-constraints studies. Scenario studies were found to be an important and yet underappreciated tool for such integration. The study identified novel techniques for scenario construction that could be applied in this context – they can allow the construction of sets of scenarios to bridge across scales or to connect separate modelling communities. The study suggests that for bridging the current gaps that exist between concepts it is necessary to develop an active interface across research communities involved in global change research, integrated assessment and resource modelling communities. These interfaces need to allow the co-development of concepts, the sharing of data and the confrontation of different perspectives on the shared challenge of exploring potential pathways for sustainability. / Planetary Boundaries research initiative

The 21st-century climate crisis and human development are placing a burden on the planet and society and require strategic integration as well as education about sustainable development. Universities are educational institutions and have the potential to encourage and empower a climate-friendly individual and collective behaviours and educate about the importance of sustainable development pathways that are grounded in social and planetary long-term goals. This thesis departs from the challenge to create a joint holistic understanding of sustainability and the concept of sustainable development among universities and their strategies and development plans for the future. It aims to examine the integration of social and planetary boundaries within university strategies and what enables as well as hinders sustainable development engagement. Accordingly, this study builds on a comparative analysis using document analysis of strategic documents from seven different European universities which were complemented by seven expert interviews. The social and planetary boundaries set the analytical framework. This study finds that university strategies are recognising and addressing sustainable development within their course of action but there is no common standard on how and to what extent this has to be addressed and barriers prevent an even stronger commitment. Furthermore, an indicated gap between envisioning goals and acting upon them raises the question of to what extent strategy documents are just used as marketing tools. The study concludes by proposing a framework which depicts the baseline requirements that all universities should fulfil in terms of sustainable development engagement and implementation measures.

The Doughnut Economy integrates social and environmental sustainability into one holistic model. As sustainability becomes more relevant for multinational corporations, it is crucial to explore the possibilities of the Doughnut Economy as a tool for enhancing and visualising corporate sustainability efforts. Therefore, this study examines how multinational corporations' sustainability strategies align with the Doughnut Economy model and explores potential challenges and stakeholder benefits of alignment. Moreover, this interpretive study adopts an inductive approach, employing an exploratory and explanatory case study to contribute to existing theory and practice. Gathering qualitative data through semi-structured interviews with sustainability managers at Husqvarna Group, complemented by the company's 2022 sustainability report as secondary data. Next, thematic analysis was used to analyse the empirical findings, providing a comprehensive understanding of patterns and themes. Overall this study concludes that strategic alignment with the Doughnut Economy enables multinational corporations to enhance sustainability efforts and enables stakeholder benefits. Additionally, there are challenges of alignment due to the Doughnut Economy model’s complexity and limited stakeholder knowledge, however, investments in education and stakeholder engagement can address these challenges. By embracing the suggested strategies and overcoming identified obstacles, multinational corporations can strengthen their alignment with the Doughnut Economy, contributing to a sustainable future.

Climate change is often the main environmental focus in corporate sustainability reporting, but corporations’ impacts stretch further, making it is necessary to consider additional aspects such as biodiversity, freshwater scarcity, and pollution. While some studies aiming to downscale the planetary boundary framework onto smaller settings does exist, literature for company scales is scarce. This degree project aimed to explore how the planetary boundary framework can be integrated to complement current sustainability reporting practices. More specifically this was done by associating the planetary boundaries control variables with reportable proxies that can be applied as a basis for a more comprehensive approach to the environmental sustainability focus of companies. Next, and based on those proxies, an overall reporting structure was developed, followed by the performance of a case study where the current data gaps and enhancement necessities of Ericsson’s direct operation were assessed. This study does not consider the safe operating spaces of the planetary boundaries and will thus not elucidate whether a company is doing enough but rather help companies monitor the change in the suggested proxies over time. This study is based on data collected through an extensive literature review, interviews, and workshops with employees from Ericsson, Houdini Sportswear and Future Earth. The literature review identified nine studies that has previously defined proxies for local settings, which laid the foundation for fourteen reportable proxies. Further, the reporting structure provides an indication of which company activities are relevant for the proxies and suggests the associated granularity. The spatiality of the proxies differs, ranging from global to local settings and the temporality varies from annual to seasonal measurements. Some proxies are furthermore recommended to include additional assessments to expand the context and outcome of the proxies. The granularity of data currently gathered by Ericsson needs to be refined and complemented with additional measurements before applying the proxies. The holistic perspective of the planetary boundary framework and the lack of previous research causes uncertainties that should be addressed before applying the suggested reporting structure. Additional research is necessary to cover the supply and value chains of operations, which is likely to cause a significant share of the environmental impact. / Företags hållbarhetsrapportering tenderar idag idag att främst fokusera på koldioxid utsläpp och klimatförändringar. Det finns dock ytterligare aspekter av företagens miljöpåverkan som bör inkorporeras, såsom biodiversitet, landanvändning och vattenbrist. Vetenskapliga studier har undersökt möjligheterna att skala ner ramverket för de planetära gränserna, men forskning relaterad till hållbarhetsrapporter har endast genomförts i begränsad skala. Detta examensarbete ämnar undersöka hur de planetära gränserna kan integreras i företags hållbarhetsrapportering. Detta har åstadkommits genom att de nuvarande kontrollvariablerna har översatts från global till lokal nivå. Utöver detta har även en översiktlig rapporteringsstruktur föreslagits som inkluderar datainsamling såväl som önskad granularitet. Slutligen undersöktes även Ericssons hållbarhetsrapportering och datainsamling relaterat till företagets direkta operation för att fastslå vilken data som saknades samt vilka åtgärder som skulle krävas för att implementera rapporterings strukturen. Den utvecklade rapporteringsstrukturen tar ej hänsyn till de planetära gränsernas gränsvärden och ämnar inte fördela dessa mellan företag. Denna studie klargör därav inte huruvida företags befintliga hållbarhetsarbete är tillräckligt. Detta examensarbete är baserad på data insamlad från en omfattnade litteraturundersökning samt intervjuer och workshops med anställda på Ericsson, Houdini och Future Earth. Litteraturundersökningen identifierade nio studier som tidigare definierat mätbara parametrar för de planetära gränsernas kontrollvariabler, vilket lade grunden för de fjorton parametrar som definierades i denna studie. Den föreslagna rapportstrukturen specificerar vilka företagsaktiviteter som är relevanta för respektive parameter, samt rekommenderar vilken granularitet som bäst representerar de planetära gränserna och leder till bästa möjliga kontext. Mappningen av Ericssons nuvarande datainsamling på det föreslagna ramverket fastställer att den nuvarande granulariten behöver förfinas samt att datainsamlingen behöver utökas för att kunna applicera parametrarna i framtiden. De planetära gränserna är definierade holistiskt vilket försvårar appliceringen på en lokal nivå. Bristen på studier relaterade till hållbarhetsrapportering har även medfört osäkerheter vilket bör tas i beaktande. Slutligen, ytterligare studier rekommenderas för att studera Ericssons leverans och värdekedja, där en mer omfattande miljöpåverkan förväntas ske.

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This thesis explores how the Planetary Boundaries (PBs), as derived from the Planetary Boundary Framework (PBF), and the Sustainability Principles (SPs), as derived from the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD), can be integrated. It presents and discusses how the PBs and SPs intersect and provide additive value, with the purpose to inform the development of strategic guidelines towards sustainability. Agriculture was used as a case context due to its significant contribution to the sustainability challenge. The methods include the development of a matrix, populated with agricultural contributions to SP violations and PB transgressions, and a series of qualitative interviews with sustainability experts to validate the matrix and provide further insight into how an integrated approach can be used in practice. Results show that intersects exist on both driver and impact levels, and that the matrix provides an enhanced understanding of the system. Researchers conclude that there are various benefits from integrating the SPs and PBs, including aspects such as easing communication, informing prioritisation of urgent issues, and the development of strategic transformation approaches. Integrating SPs and PBs provides an enhanced definition of sustainability, from which explicit goals, criteria and strategic guidelines can be developed towards solving the sustainability challenge.

L'implémentation à large échelle de stratégies d’atténuation des émissions dans le secteur de l'agriculture, la forêt et autres usages des sols (AFOLU) pose des questions sur leur durabilité. Par exemple, les bio-fuels de seconde génération menacent la biodiversité et la reforestation d'espaces agricoles augmente le prix de l'alimentation. De plus, ces stratégies d’atténuation des émissions dépendent fortement des conditions socio-économiques décrivant le reste du système alimentaire (libéralisation du commerce agricole, développement économique, augmentation de la population...). Dans cette thèse, nous cherchons à préciser les impacts sur la biodiversité, l'alimentation et les émissions de gaz à effet de serre de différentes stratégies d’atténuation à large échelle dans le secteur AFOLU au regard de différentes situations socio-économiques. Pour cela, nous utilisons la modélisation prospective qui nous permet de simuler des scénarios décrivant l'évolution de l'usage des sols à l'échelle mondiale à l'horizon 2030, 2050 et 2100. Le couplage du modèle d'usage des sols Nexus Land-Use (NLU) avec le modèle de biodiversité Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (PREDICTS) permet d’étudier l’impact de ces stratégies d’atténuation sur différentes composantes de la biodiversité. Le calcul de bilan d’azote permet quant à lui de préciser le lien entre l’intensification et sont impact environnemental.Dans la première partie du manuscrit de thèse, nous testons des scénarios d’augmentation de la production de légumineuse en Europe en évaluant les effets sur les émissions de gaz à effet de serre du secteur AFOLU. Nous montrons que le principal avantage environnemental des légumineuses est de fournir des protéines comme substitut aux produits d'origine animale plutôt que de permettre une réduction de la consommation d'engrais de synthèse par une fixation accrue de l'azote par les légumineuses. La majorité de la réduction d’émission a lieu dans le secteur de production animal et hors de l'Europe. Notons également l'importance des mécanismes indirects qui mène à une réduction des émissions de N2O associées à la fertilisation azotée dans le secteur végétal. La sensibilité de ces résultats à la combinaison du scénario de changement de régime alimentaire avec un scénario de reforestation nous amène à nous intéresser dans la suite aux interactions entre stratégies d’atténuation.Dans la seconde partie, nous étudions les compromis et les synergies entre conservation de la biodiversité et maintien de la sécurité alimentaire pour différents scénarios d’atténuation. La production à large échelle de bioénergie a des effets négatifs à la fois sur différents indicateurs de biodiversité (richesse spécifique et l’indicateur d'intégrité de la biodiversité) et sur la sécurité alimentaire (prix de l’alimentation et coût de production). Bien que présentant un compromis entre protection de la biodiversité et sécurité alimentaire, les combinaisons de changement de régime alimentaire et de scénario de reforestation permettent d’améliorer la biodiversité et la sécurité alimentaire dans de nombreux cas par rapport à une situation sans atténuation des émissions.Dans la troisième partie, nous comparons différentes évolutions de l'usage des sols à l'échelle mondiale en identifiant les scénarios qui permettent de ne pas dépasser les limites de la planète au regard d'indicateurs renseignant le cycle de l’azote, l'intégrité de la biosphère, les émissions de CO2 du secteur AFOLU et la conservation des forêts. Nous montrons que malgré l’incertitude régnant autour de la détermination des limites planétaires, les scénarios environnementaux qui permettent de rester de manière robuste au sein de ces limites planétaires sont constitués majoritairement de reforestation, de changement de régime alimentaire et d’augmentation de l’efficacité de l’utilisation des intrants dans la production végétale. / The large-scale implementation of emission reduction strategies in the agriculture, forestry and other land uses (AFOLU) sector raises questions about their sustainability. For example, second-generation bio-fuels threaten biodiversity and the reforestation of agricultural land increases food prices. In addition, these emission reduction strategies are highly dependent on socio-economic conditions describing the rest of the food system (agricultural trade liberalization, economic development, population growth, etc.). For example, an increase in food demand, due to population growth and economic development, can increase pressures on the food system, leading to ecosystem degradation and increased greenhouse gas emissions. In this thesis, we seek to clarify the impacts on biodiversity, food and greenhouse gas emission of large-scale mitigation strategies in the AFOLU sector under different socio-economic conditions. To do this, we used prospective modeling to simulate various global land uses in 2030, 2050 and 2100 under different scenarios. More specifically, to study the impact of different mitigation strategies on biodiversity indicators, we coupled the Nexus Land-Use (NLU) model with the Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (PREDICTS) biodiversity model. A nitrogen balance is also built to specify the link between intensification and environmental impact.In the first chapter, we assessed the impact of scenarios of increased legume production in Europe on greenhouse gas emissions in the AFOLU sector. We found that the main environmental benefit of legumes is to provide proteins as a substitute for animal products rather than enabling a lower consumption of synthetic fertilizer through the increased leguminous nitrogen fixation. Most of the emission reduction takes place in the animal production sector and outside Europe. This first chapter also highlights the importance of indirect mechanisms that lead to a reduction in N2O emissions associated with nitrogen fertilization in the plant sector. The sensitivity of these results to different reforestation scenario led me to then focus on the interactions between mitigation strategies.In the second chapter, we analyzed the trade-offs and synergies between biodiversity and food security for different combinations of mitigation scenarios. Large-scale bioenergy production had negative effects on different biodiversity indicators (species richness and biodiversity intactness index) as well as on different food security indicators (food prices and production costs). Although presenting a trade-off between biodiversity protection and food security, a combination of diet change and reforestation scenarios can improve biodiversity and food security in many cases compared to a situation without mitigation.In a third chapter, we identified global land-use scenarios that ensure to stay within planetary boundaries in terms of nitrogen cycle, biosphere integrity, non-CO2 emissions from the AFOLU sector and forest conservation. We showed that despite the uncertainty surrounding the determination of global boundaries, the most robust environmental scenarios that ensure to stay within these global boundaries are mainly composed of reforestation, dietary changes and increased efficiency in the use of inputs in crop production.

För att lösa hållbarhetsproblem krävs fokus på mer självförsörjande samhällen som kräver ett lägre behov av konsumtion, energi och transporter då människans nuvarande livsstil och samhällsmål inte går att kombinera med hållbart, klimatvänligt och rättvist. Vår livsstil är dock inte bara orsaken utan även lösningen på hållbarhetsutmaningar. Forskare och medlemmar av gemenskaper menar på att den miljömässigt fördelaktiga livsstil som förknippas med ekobyar och kollektivboenden kan bidra till att uppnå hållbarhetsmål, samt att gemenskaps-baserade initiativ har potential att utgöra en mer hållbar livsstil i jämförelse med konventionella samhällen. En litteraturöversikt och tre intervjuer genomfördes med syftet att undersöka hur ekobyar, som en avsiktlig gemenskap, kan hjälpa oss att leva innanför planetens gränser och vilka sociala utmaningar som ekobyar möter. Resultaten analyserades med hjälp av planetära gränser, donut-ekonomi och nerväxt som en del av emergent normteorin. Studien visar att ekobyar som en avsiktlig gemenskap kan hjälpa oss att leva innanför planetens gränser och bidra till en miljömässigt hållbar utveckling inom sex kategorier: ekologiska system, ekologisk arkitektur, energisystem, transportsystem, matsystem och miljövänligt beteende Sociala utmaningar som upptäcktes i ekobyar är otydliga normer och regler, brist på deltagande och egenemang, ledarskap, beslutsfattande, kommunikation, odelade visioner och mål, ojämn maktbalans, etiska frågor, arbetslöshet, organisering och olika bakgrunder. / To solve sustainability problems we need to pay more attention to self sustainable societies with demand for less consumption, energy and transport as our lifestyle can not be combined with sustainability, climate-friendly and fair. Researchers and members of communities believe that the environmentally beneficial lifestyle that is associated with ecovillages and collective housing can contribute to reaching sustainable development goals and a sustainable lifestyle. A literature review and interviews were carried out with the purpose to investigate how ecovillages can help us live within the planetary boundaries and which social challenges ecovillages face. The results showed that ecovillages can help us to live within the planetary boundaries within six categories: ecological systems, ecological architecture, energy systems, transport systems, food systems and environmental friendly behaviour. Social challenges in ecovillages were leadership, decision making, undivided visions and goals, uneven balance of power, ethical questions, unemployment, organisation and different backgrounds.

The biosphere integrity boundary of the Planetary Boundaries Framework seeks to highlight biodiversity loss and its effect on humanity's 'safe operating space'. Biodiversity plays a critical role in sustaining ecosystem function and by extension, the ecosystem services on which human wellbeing depends. As currently conceptualized, biodiversity and the provisioning and regulating ecosystem services with which it is associated, is not adequately captured in the boundary. Literature searches for data-synthesis were carried out to identify and assess the balance of evidence for the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem services. The change in global ecosystem service trends over time were assessed along with the interactions between ecosystem services. Twelve provisioning and 9 regulating ecosystem services associated with biodiversity were identified in the literature. Biocontrol and carbon sequestration were the most studied services. The Fischer exact test showed that there was a significant difference between the extent to which provisioning versus regulating ecosystem services are studied. Mann-Whitney U tests showed non-significant relationships between provisioning services and regulating services for trend and effect size data. All provisioning services showed increasing trends over time. The results for regulating services were mixed. Of the 115 ecosystem service interactions assessed, 66 were trade-offs and 49 were synergies. Crop yield and climate-related ESS (carbon sequestration and carbon storage) represented almost one-third of these interactions (n = 22) while crop yield and erosion control represented over a quarter (n = 19). These interactions alone accounted for 36% of the total interactions. This paper provides an initial database which could be refined and expanded. It also demonstrates a comprehensive approach to assessing biodiversity ecosystem service relationships, providing a tangible approach to assessing a safe operating space for humanity. Further, it provides a platform for future research on biodiversity-ecosystem services human well-being links, which will provide better insights to policymakers, managers and practitioners. / <p>The presentation was done via Zoom during Covid 19 when Stockholm University was closed. </p>

Planetary Boundaries (PB) and Circular Economy (CE) are becoming the paradigm for sustainability. There is an increasing interest to operationalise PB into a framework for businesses to maximise profitability within environmental limits. The context of the cotton textile industry makes a good setting for understanding the casual chain of connections between the socio-economic system expressed by extensive global supply chain of cotton, and its ecological interconnection with the Earth’s system that is put under pressure. For this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) is recognised as a suitable approach for measuring the linkages between those two systems. Results show that among all phases of the life cycle of a cotton t-shirt, the usage phase is the most impacting for most of environmental indicators, followed by the manufacturing and farming phase. Production or extraction of raw material as elements considered upstream in the supply chain are the predominant cause of impacts in this case study. Increasing circularity of the system yields to an improvement in environmental performance. However, the system remains largely unsustainable when taking into account the state of the Earth’s system, through the PB. When assessing sustainability through LCA, ecological references like PB, must be considered to understand absolute environmental sustainability a product system. This will reveal whether less impacting options in the system, are still deteriorating a state of the environment as a part of the Earth’s system, which needs to be the area of protection. In conclusion, linking planetary boundaries to life cycle assessment can help assess the absolute environmental sustainability, as opposed to relative sustainability, of a production system. Combining an assessment of the state of the environment (safe, critical/uncertain, at risk), and the assessment of environmental hotspots of the system under scrutiny, will determine where priority for goals and actions of improvements for environmental sustainability needs most attention.