4 5 NOVEMBER 2013 CO-CHAIRS SUMMARY NOTE

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1 Planetary boundaries and environmental tipping points: What do they mean for sustainable development and the global agenda? 4 5 NOVEMBER 2013 CO-CHAIRS SUMMARY NOTE

2 In 2009, a group of scientists led by Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC) identified and quantified a set of nine planetary boundaries within which humanity can continue to develop and thrive for generations to come. Green space describes safe operating space for human activity. Three of the nine boundaries have already exceeded: biodiversity loss, nitrogen cycle and climate change. Source: Rockström et al, 2009.

3 PLANETARY BOUNDARIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL TIPPING POINTS: WHAT DO THEY MEAN FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE GLOBAL AGENDA? INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP FOR SCIENTISTS, GOVERNMENT EXPERTS AND STAKEHOLDERS 4 5 November 2013, Geneva, Switzerland CO-CHAIRS SUMMARY NOTE Finland, in cooperation with Sweden, Norway, Denmark, UNEP and Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC) and with the support of the Nordic Council of Ministers, organized an international workshop Planetary boundaries and environmental tipping points: What do they mean for sustainable development and the global agenda? on 4-5 November 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland. This Co-Chairs Summary Note is not an exhaustive list of conclusions but rather aims to summarize some of the key messages and main discussions of the workshop. These messages will be delivered to policy-planners and decision-makers engaged in the development of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and finally the global Post-2015 framework, to be adopted in The workshop was conducted under the Chatham House Rule. The researchers and representatives of Governments and organizations took part in the discussions in their personal capacity.

4 KEY MESSAGES OF THE WORKSHOP Earth systems are rapidly changing. This may lead to catastrophic regime shifts in ecosystems. There is a need to find consensus on boundaries that define a safe and just operating space for human development based on a robust science. This approach is fundamentally about reconnecting our economic and social development to the biosphere as well as about engaging in a new narrative of global development within the lifesupport systems of the world. The concept proposes a precautionary approach to sustainable development. In terms of the global agenda, we need a strategic approach to the Post-2015 agenda which incorporates the perspectives of environmental sustainability, including taking the safe and just operating space into account. The SDGs should be able to tackle also the driving forces and the inter-linkages between the poverty and environmental sustainability. Learning from the experience of the MDGs, there is a need to find a common unifying theme for the SDGs. There is need to establish criteria for the SDGs in order to ensure that the critical aspects of sustainable development are captured in the formulation of the goals. It would also be useful for the policy makers to get proposals from the scientific community on concrete entry points for the planetary boundaries in the context of Post-2015 framework. In order to include critical environmental issues, such as the concept of planetary boundaries, into global sustainable development discussions, there is a need to maintain a holistic approach and frame the issues in a positive way while not losing the sense of urgency. It is important to develop tools for monitoring the operationalization of the planetary boundaries, such as a sustainability index, and ensure that the global governance and institutions support decision-making based on holistic and system-based science. The global community has already committed politically, through Multilateral Environmental Agreements and other international agreements, to a number of global environmental targets including on climate change, biodiversity, chemicals and waste management. Even though many of the agreements and targets have been set up under the environmental dimension, their objectives also address other dimensions of sustainable development such as promotion of human health, securing ecosystem services and using the indigenous knowledge.

5 We need a paradigm shift and a new development model that focuses on quality of life, social protection networks and security rather than the economic growth only. Science can support this process by translating the biophysical terms into socio-economical and socioecological terms and providing relevant examples that work in practice. Solutions should also be politically attractive. We need coherent, integrated and nationally appropriate policies to secure safe and just operating space for human development and to translate the safe and just operating space into policy targets and positive vision for transition. Sustainability and equity are both important. There is a need for structured approaches to the assessment of science on how the Earth works in the dimensions proposed by planetary boundaries, including social sciences. Climate change is rather well assessed but scientific, structured assessments of other boundaries are critically needed. Alongside a more structured and centralized approach to science, we need co-existence and co-evolution of bottom-up approaches where the global planetary boundaries are brought to regional, national and local levels. For instance natural capital accounting will help to understand the local thresholds. It is also necessary to break down the planetary boundaries to specific areas and topics: what do they mean for food, production, consumption etc. In order to improve evidence-based decision-making, there is a need to enable dialogues on knowledge, knowledge needs and the implications of the knowledge between researchers, policymakers and stakeholders. The international scientific Panels on climate change (IPCC), natural resources (IRP) and biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES) are important vehicles in boosting science-policy interface and informing the decisionmakers on the urgency of action. Democratization of information is a prerequisite in translating the scientific messages into policy decisions and practical solutions. Social scientists are needed to support the natural scientists on how to communicate the findings to the larger public to encourage behavioral change. Good governance which reconciles environmental and social aspirations requires transparency, dynamism to respond to the feedbacks and accountability to recognize and take into account the local experiences behind the global changes. An adaptive governance response based on human rights and taking planetary boundaries into account is required. In order to facilitate the transformation, the means of implementation needs to be available. Green and inclusive economy is one of the key means to achieve sustainable development. Means of implementation goes beyond financing. It is also about dynamic cooperation between governments, private sector, civil society actors and other stakeholders, and about creation of new partnerships and coalitions of the willing.

6 BACKGROUND The main rationale for the workshop was to advocate for the need to advance the understanding of biophysical boundaries of global development in policy making. The scientific work around the planetary boundaries and environmental tipping points, as well as the political processes on global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the broader Post-2015 agenda were therefore key concepts, approaches, processes and frameworks of the workshop. WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES WERE TO: 1. Increase the understanding of the relevance of biophysical boundaries and tipping points for sustainable development, and for the development of the SDGs and the global policy agenda. 2. Facilitate a common ground for a holistic framework by recognizing the need to consider environmental sustainability together with the social and economic foundation. 3. Provide a platform for discussion on planetary boundaries and their inter-linkages, environmental tipping points and sustainable development in an informal setting between scientists during the science day, and between selected Governmental experts, scientists and stakeholders during the science-policy day. In order to keep the workshop concise and pragmatic, the discussions were conducted with a limited number of invited scientists with expertise relevant to the workshop topic and government and stakeholder representatives working mainly at senior expert level with issues related to sustainable development, planetary boundaries, resilience and environmental pressures. More than 60 participants from 20 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and North America attended the workshop. The workshop consisted of two working days, the first was dedicated to dialogue between the invited scientists, and the second day provided a platform for a broader sciencepolicy-stakeholder interaction. During the Science Day the workshop was co-chaired by Mr. Peter Gilruth, Director of the Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Ms. Idunn Eidheim, Deputy Director General, Department for International Cooperation, Ministry of the Environment of Norway. During the Science-Policy Day the workshop was cochaired by Ms. Idunn Eidheim, Deputy Director General, Department for International Cooperation, Ministry of the Environment of Norway and Ms. Jacqueline McGlade, Senior Advisor, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

7 The workshop provided a platform for discussions in an informal setting. The discussions applied the Chatham House Rule facilitating an open dialogue without identifying in the reporting who said what during the exchange of views. The workshop was funded by the Ministry of the Environment of Finland and the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM). Nordic Council of Ministers has also been funding the Stockholm Resilience Centre s discussion paper Global Sustainability and Human prosperity contribution to the Post agenda and the development of Sustainable Development Goals which was one of the key background papers of the workshop. Planetary and social boundaries: a safe and just space for humanity (Source: Raworth, 2012)

8 FINLAND RIO+20 Graphic Design: Vanto Design, Layout: Marianne Laune, Ministry of the Environment, Printhouse: Unigrafia, Helsinki 2014, PDF version of the brochure: NORDIC ECOLABEL Printed matter