Ethics and Planetary Boundaries
Will be published approx. on 30. September 2026
Book
Hardback
300 pages
978-1-009-44357-9 (ISBN)
Description
The planetary boundaries framework - one of the most influential ideas of our age - is used to describe human-Earth relationships. It shapes global environmental policy and new economic thinking. This book takes a multidisciplinary approach to the planetary boundaries framework. It consists of eighteen chapters by scholars from disciplines ranging from international law to indigenous knowledge. Each chapter begins with an introduction before expanding into a critical analysis of the reach and limits of the boundary framework itself, with each of the nine frameworks the focus of two chapters. This volume comes at as a critical moment, when the unprecedented challenges of the climate crisis demand new approaches, tools and perspectives to questions of climate justice and sustainability. It is a valuable resource for researchers and graduate students in environmental politics and ethics, geography, and Earth system science. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
More details
Persons
Simon P. Meisch is a Senior Lecturer at the International Centre for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities at the University of Tuebingen. Meisch's research focuses on co-production, ethics, and epistemic justice in transdisciplinary sustainability research, particularly in relation to climate and water-related challenges. Jeremy J. Schmidt is Reader in Environmental Geography in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Queen Mary University of London. Schmidt's research examines the relationships of ethics and policy to a world increasingly shaped by human impacts on the Earth system.
Content
Part I. Introduction: 1. Planetary boundaries: thinking across science and ethics Jeremy J. Schmidt; Part II. Stratospheric Ozone Depletion: 2. Introduction to the Ozone boundary Simon P. Meisch; 3. The planetary boundary on stratospheric Ozone depletion as evolution of values under the ozone regime Louise du Toit; 4. Are Ozone's relationships of normative importance? Christine Winter; Part III. Climate Change: 5. Introduction to the climate boundary Simon P. Meisch; 6. Climate boundaries and border crossers Miriam Gay-Antaki; 7. An arctic bounded by whiteness Sandre Tanguy and Jeanne Gherardi; Part IV. Biodiversity Integrity: 8. Introduction to the biodiversity boundary Simon P. Meisch; 9. Ethical perspectives on biodiversity as planetary boundary Uta Eser; 10. Inter-species justice and the right to thrive: biodiversity in crisis in Aotearoa New Zealand Makere Stewart-Harawira; Part V. Land System Change: 11. Introduction to the land system boundary Simon P. Meisch; 12. A transformative multispecies land use ethic for the amazon Joana Castro Pereira and Carlota Houart; 13. In conversation with a land: extracts from the Pianpicollo diary Alice Benessia; Part VI. Freshwater Change: 14. Introduction to the freshwater boundary Jeremy J. Schmidt; 15. The role of the planetary boundaries framework in water-related management and policy decisions Neelke Doorn; 16. Navigating pathways to just water futures? A hydrosocial engagement with the planetary boundaries framework Nicole J. Wilson; Part VII. Biogeochemical Flows: 17. Introduction to the biogeochemical boundary Jeremy J. Schmidt; 18. Food fight: moving beyond wizards and prophets to achieve a sustainable phosphorus system James Elser; 19. Between justice and food security: planetary legacies of mining phosphate Islands Katerina Teaiwa; Part VIII. Ocean Acidification: 20. Introduction to the ocean acidification boundary Simon P. Meisch; 21. How can we curb ocean acidification in a time of multiple competing global crises? Rachel Haug Fossbakk; 22. Impacts of ocean acidification: an analysis from and environmental ethics perspective Konrad Ott; Part IX. Atmospheric Aerosols: 23. Introduction to the aerosol boundary; 24. The Ethics of clean air governance: a legal perspective on the atmospheric aerosol loading planetary boundary Leslie-Anne Duvic-Paoli; 25. The end of experimentation: geoengineering and planetary boundaries Jeremy J. Schmidt; Part X. Novel Entities: 26. Introduction to the novel entities boundaries Jeremy J. Schmidt; 27. Novel entities as planetary boundary: ethical considerations Andreas Bachman and Ariane Willemsen; 28. The crisis of planetary narratives: a conversation with Erle Ellis Erle Ellis; Part XI. Conclusion: 29. The planetary boundaries: knowing what the question is Simon P. Meisch.