Planetary Commons Approach for Environmental Governance
Towards Sustainable Global Environmental Solutions.
Addressing Global Environmental Challenges
Human activity has become the dominant force driving environmental changes, leading to complex and often unmanageable impacts. Climate change, deforestation, and pollution are creating cascading effects on ecosystems, pushing the planet toward irreversible tipping points.
What is the Planetary Commons Approach?
The “planetary commons” approach expands on the concept of the “global commons” to include environmental systems vital for all life on Earth. It promotes the collective management of these crucial systems, recognizing their interdependence. A key part of this approach is creating a multi-level governance structure, involving both local and global regulations to ensure the protection and sustainability of these systems.
The organisations behind the one page summary
United Nations University Centre for Policy Research (UNU-CPR) is a think tank within the United Nations that carries out policy-focused research.
The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) advances science and provides solutions for a safe and just future.
The Global Challenges Foundation provides support for the “Towards a Planetary Commons Approach for Environmental Governance”.
Key Actions for Advancing the Planetary Commons Approach
The policy brief How the 2024 Summit of the Future Can Advance a “Planetary Commons” Approach to Our Environmental Crisis (PDF) presents several key actions for addressing the environmental crisis ahead of the summit:
- Develop a win-win narrative on the environment that resonates with the developing world, major emitters, and the advocacy community.
- Link environmental governance to politically actionable issues like public health, combating inequality, and financing for the developing world.
- Focus on incentives, encouraging large-scale public and private investments in key tipping point arenas for the environment.
- Bolster the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): grant it responsibility to uphold agreed principles and commitments; capacitate a broader science-policy-action function; equip the programme with investigative capabilities to uncover and report violations; and position UNEP as an organization that can monitor, advise, and support other multilateral organizations.
The Need for Systemic Change
Current environmental governance is fragmented, addressing problems in isolation while the crisis is global and interconnected. Led by Johan Rockström, scientists have introduced the concept of “planetary commons,” which emphasizes the vital biophysical systems that sustain Earth’s stability and life.
Recognizing planetary commons would transform environmental governance, requiring a rethinking of international legal frameworks and institutions to manage Earth as an interconnected system. While large-scale change takes time, the foundational principles of planetary commons can begin to be integrated into existing governance structures to create a more coherent and unified approach to the planetary crisis.
The policy brief outlines practical steps that governments, policymakers, and the scientific community can take to move toward this new governance model.