Hitting Planetary Boundaries

The sixth wave of globalization is the one expected to characterize the 21st century. In this chapter, Professor Sachs provides an overview of the Planetary Boundaries framework and discusses the reality that, due to the scale of human population and economic activity, we are detrimentally changing our planet’s physical environment. The Planetary Boundaries are a set of limits that humanity needs to observe for the well-being of our own species and the future of our planet; they are displayed in an iconic diagram with 9 areas of concern, including climate change, ocean acidification, and biodiversity loss, among others. The challenge of the sixth wave of globalization is to confront the environmental threats that we causing; we must consciously direct technological change so that economic prosperity resides within safe boundaries.

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