Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches

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Standard

Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches. / Vea, Eldbjørg Blikra; Ryberg, Morten; Richardson, Katherine; Hauschild, Michael Z.

In: Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 15, No. 10, 103003, 2020.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Vea, EB, Ryberg, M, Richardson, K & Hauschild, MZ 2020, 'Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches', Environmental Research Letters, vol. 15, no. 10, 103003. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abac77

APA

Vea, E. B., Ryberg, M., Richardson, K., & Hauschild, M. Z. (2020). Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches. Environmental Research Letters, 15(10), [103003]. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abac77

Vancouver

Vea EB, Ryberg M, Richardson K, Hauschild MZ. Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches. Environmental Research Letters. 2020;15(10). 103003. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abac77

Author

Vea, Eldbjørg Blikra ; Ryberg, Morten ; Richardson, Katherine ; Hauschild, Michael Z. / Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches. In: Environmental Research Letters. 2020 ; Vol. 15, No. 10.

Bibtex

@article{d5f685f70c3943269e3d084eb690be5f,
title = "Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches",
abstract = "Environmental sustainability boundaries can help us navigate a sustainable development trajectory, by evaluating environmental performance of current actions in relation to such boundaries. However, current definitions of environmental sustainability boundaries have shortcomings when used in environmental assessments. The shortcomings include considerations of regional differentiation and transparency with respect to how uncertainty is addressed. This paper seeks to improve the definition and application of environmental sustainability boundaries in environmental assessments by reviewing existing approaches to set them and elaborating an analytical framework for defining, communicating and adopting environmental sustainability boundaries in assessments. 110 original environmental sustainability boundaries were identified from existing literature and grouped into 13 categories of boundary approaches. The framework addresses five components (objective, boundary principle, uncertainty principle, accepted levels of impacts, and scientific estimate), and recommends practices for each. The framework is recommended for defining, communicating and adopting environmental sustainability boundaries, to facilitate a consistent application of them in environmental assessments. The analysis of existing boundary approaches showed that they often handle value-based aspects (e.g. choice of uncertainty principle) differently. Thus, it is recommended that value-based aspects are communicated explicitly to enable a practitioner to consider how this resonates with his/her own values or the values of central stakeholders when adopting environmental sustainability boundaries in an environmental assessment.",
keywords = "Carrying capacity, Environmental sustainability boundary, Framework, Planetary boundaries, Sustainability, Sustainable development, Threshold",
author = "Vea, {Eldbj{\o}rg Blikra} and Morten Ryberg and Katherine Richardson and Hauschild, {Michael Z.}",
year = "2020",
doi = "10.1088/1748-9326/abac77",
language = "English",
volume = "15",
journal = "Environmental Research Letters",
issn = "1748-9326",
publisher = "IOP Publishing",
number = "10",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Framework to define environmental sustainability boundaries and a review of current approaches

AU - Vea, Eldbjørg Blikra

AU - Ryberg, Morten

AU - Richardson, Katherine

AU - Hauschild, Michael Z.

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Environmental sustainability boundaries can help us navigate a sustainable development trajectory, by evaluating environmental performance of current actions in relation to such boundaries. However, current definitions of environmental sustainability boundaries have shortcomings when used in environmental assessments. The shortcomings include considerations of regional differentiation and transparency with respect to how uncertainty is addressed. This paper seeks to improve the definition and application of environmental sustainability boundaries in environmental assessments by reviewing existing approaches to set them and elaborating an analytical framework for defining, communicating and adopting environmental sustainability boundaries in assessments. 110 original environmental sustainability boundaries were identified from existing literature and grouped into 13 categories of boundary approaches. The framework addresses five components (objective, boundary principle, uncertainty principle, accepted levels of impacts, and scientific estimate), and recommends practices for each. The framework is recommended for defining, communicating and adopting environmental sustainability boundaries, to facilitate a consistent application of them in environmental assessments. The analysis of existing boundary approaches showed that they often handle value-based aspects (e.g. choice of uncertainty principle) differently. Thus, it is recommended that value-based aspects are communicated explicitly to enable a practitioner to consider how this resonates with his/her own values or the values of central stakeholders when adopting environmental sustainability boundaries in an environmental assessment.

AB - Environmental sustainability boundaries can help us navigate a sustainable development trajectory, by evaluating environmental performance of current actions in relation to such boundaries. However, current definitions of environmental sustainability boundaries have shortcomings when used in environmental assessments. The shortcomings include considerations of regional differentiation and transparency with respect to how uncertainty is addressed. This paper seeks to improve the definition and application of environmental sustainability boundaries in environmental assessments by reviewing existing approaches to set them and elaborating an analytical framework for defining, communicating and adopting environmental sustainability boundaries in assessments. 110 original environmental sustainability boundaries were identified from existing literature and grouped into 13 categories of boundary approaches. The framework addresses five components (objective, boundary principle, uncertainty principle, accepted levels of impacts, and scientific estimate), and recommends practices for each. The framework is recommended for defining, communicating and adopting environmental sustainability boundaries, to facilitate a consistent application of them in environmental assessments. The analysis of existing boundary approaches showed that they often handle value-based aspects (e.g. choice of uncertainty principle) differently. Thus, it is recommended that value-based aspects are communicated explicitly to enable a practitioner to consider how this resonates with his/her own values or the values of central stakeholders when adopting environmental sustainability boundaries in an environmental assessment.

KW - Carrying capacity

KW - Environmental sustainability boundary

KW - Framework

KW - Planetary boundaries

KW - Sustainability

KW - Sustainable development

KW - Threshold

U2 - 10.1088/1748-9326/abac77

DO - 10.1088/1748-9326/abac77

M3 - Review

AN - SCOPUS:85093109550

VL - 15

JO - Environmental Research Letters

JF - Environmental Research Letters

SN - 1748-9326

IS - 10

M1 - 103003

ER -

ID: 250544404