Commentary – Earth Credits: a science based framework for sustainable planetary policy beyond carbon

Abstract

Humanity's global footprint now far exceeds Earth's capacity to renew resources and absorb waste. Recent studies show that several ecological thresholds have been surpassed, some of which experts have deemed critical. Six of the nine safe planetary boundaries, as specified in Steffen et al (2015), have already been breached, leading to unprecedented biodiversity collapse, resource depletion, and increased climate risk. Staying within a "safe operating space" is crucial to prevent an irreversible environmental change (Rockström et al 2009). In practice, however, many large-scale developmental activities go unchecked, while ignoring the enormous stresses on water, soils, nutrients, and species. To address this urgent unmet need, we propose an Earth Credits Framework (ECF): a unified accounting system that quantifies a project's total planetary consumption, integrates the existing carbon credit system, and establishes a limit on the number of Earth Credits that can be justifiably allocated within the nine planetary boundaries. With sufficient data and accepted standards, ECF can offer governments, funders, and agencies a reliable compass for investing in truly sustainable outcomes.