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  • Perspective
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Policy design for the Anthropocene

Nature Sustainability volume 2, pages 14–21 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Today, more than ever, ‘Spaceship Earth’ is an apt metaphor as we chart the boundaries for a safe planet1. Social scientists both analyse why society courts disaster by approaching or even overstepping these boundaries and try to design suitable policies to avoid these perils. Because the threats of transgressing planetary boundaries are global, long-run, uncertain and interconnected, they must be analysed together to avoid conflicts and take advantage of synergies. To obtain policies that are effective at both international and local levels requires careful analysis of the underlying mechanisms across scientific disciplines and approaches, and must take politics into account. In this Perspective, we examine the complexities of designing policies that can keep Earth within the biophysical limits favourable to human life.

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Fig. 1: Planetary boundaries, tipping points and policies.
Fig. 2: Planetary boundaries and policy trade-offs.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for funding from the Stockholm Resilience Centre and BECC (Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate) as well as Mistra Carbon Exit. Comments from S. Barrett, P. Dasgupta and B. Groom are gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Thomas Sterner, Inge van den Bijgaart, John Hassler, Olof Johansson-Stenman, Jessica Coria, Gunnar Köhlin & Åsa Löfgren

  2. Department of Economics and School of Global Environmental Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Edward B. Barbier

  3. Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Ian Bateman

  4. The Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden

    Anne-Sophie Crépin & Gustav Engström

  5. Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Anne-Sophie Crépin, Johan Rockström & Will Steffen

  6. Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany

    Ottmar Edenhofer

  7. Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Ottmar Edenhofer

  8. Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change, Berlin, Germany

    Ottmar Edenhofer

  9. Resources for the Future, Washington, DC, USA

    Carolyn Fischer

  10. Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany

    Wolfgang Habla

  11. Institute for International Economic Studies, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    John Hassler

  12. Department of Economics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Andreas Lange

  13. Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Stephen Polasky

  14. Centre for Environmental and Climate Research & Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Henrik G. Smith

  15. Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Will Steffen

  16. Harvard University Center for the Environment, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Gernot Wagner

  17. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    James E. Wilen

  18. Environment for Development Initiative, CATIE, Cartago, Turrialba, Costa Rica

    Francisco Alpízar

  19. Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Christian Azar

  20. Department of Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Donna Carless & Amanda Robinson

  21. Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile

    Carlos Chávez

  22. Centre for Collective Action Research, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Sverker C. Jagers

  23. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Håkan Pleijel

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  1. Thomas Sterner
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Contributions

All authors met for a two-day workshop and have contributed in every phase. The editing was led by an inner circle of authors including I.B., I.v.d.B., A.-S.C., C.F., J.H., O.J.-S., J.R., H.G.S., W.S., G.W., J.E.W., T.S. and E.B.B. The work was coordinated by T.S.

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Correspondence to Thomas Sterner.

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Sterner, T., Barbier, E.B., Bateman, I. et al. Policy design for the Anthropocene. Nat Sustain 2, 14–21 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0194-x

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