Thread by @bbaue

Is Europe living within the limits of our planet? by @EUEnvironment & @foenCH

Europe currently exceeds its safe operating space for:

Nitrogen cycle by a factor of 3+

Phosphorous cycle by a factor of 2

& Land system change by a factor of nearly 2

bafu.admin.ch/bafu/en/home/t…

@EUEnvironment @foenCH This falls squarely into the space addressed by the @r3dot0 Global Thresholds & Allocations Council

r3-0.org/gtac/

@EUEnvironment @foenCH @r3dot0 These results aren't surprising.

In 2014, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency introduced a Nitrogen Programmatic Approach seeking to "restore protected nitrogen-sensitive nature areas and at the same time create space for economic developments around these areas."

@EUEnvironment @foenCH @r3dot0 But:

"There is a real danger that the required nature restoration will fail in a number of areas. In that case, the government will release development space in advance, which in hindsight does not appear to exist, as a result of which nature deteriorates further on the spot."

@EUEnvironment @foenCH @r3dot0 See here: pbl.nl/publicaties/be…

At that time (2014), research revealed significant areas where nitrogen levels *already* exceeded thresholds.

In retrospect, the “real danger” the government anticipated did in fact materialize.

@EUEnvironment @foenCH @r3dot0 So in other words, the Dutch government recognized the risk of allowing development on lands vulnerable to (or already experiencing) nitrogen overload, but it *allowed development anyway.*

I would humbly suggest that this is not an isolated example, but rather the norm…

@EUEnvironment @foenCH @r3dot0 We know that our global economy is transgressing 4 of 9 Planetary Boundaries, and all 12 of the Doughnut social foundations.

But we continue anyway.

Isn’t it time to integrate these thresholds explicitly into our economic system design? And our policy frameworks?

@EUEnvironment @foenCH @r3dot0 I just noticed that the report has 6 allocation principles (first 3 for people, next 3 for countries):

Equality
Needs
Right to Development
Sovereignty
Capability
Responsibility

@EUEnvironment @foenCH @r3dot0 The report contends that “Responsibility” only applies to the Planetary Boundaries of climate change and ocean acidification.

But I don’t see where it explains why it doesn’t apply to other Planetary Boundaries — how does Responsibility NOT apply to the nitrogen example above?