Navigating the Anthropocene: Improving Earth System Governance

F. Biermann; K. Abbott; S. Andresen; K. Bäckstrand; S. Bernstein; M. M. Betsill; H. Bulkeley; B. Cashore; J. Clapp; C. Folke; A. Gupta; J. Gupta; P. M. Haas; A. Jordan; N. Kanie; T. Kluvánková-Oravská; L. Lebel; D. Liverman; J. Meadowcroft; R. B. Mitchell; P. Newell; S. Oberthür; L. Olsson; P. Pattberg; R. Sánchez-Rodríguez; H. Schroeder; A. Underdal; S. Camargo Vieira; C. Vogel; O. R. Young; A. Brock; R. Zondervan

doi:10.1126/science.1217255

Policy ForumSCIENCE AND GOVERNMENT

Navigating the Anthropocene: Improving Earth System Governance

F. Biermann1,2,*,
K. Abbott3,
S. Andresen4,
K. Bäckstrand2,
S. Bernstein5,
M. M. Betsill6,
H. Bulkeley7,
B. Cashore8,
J. Clapp9,
C. Folke10,11,
A. Gupta12,
J. Gupta1,13,
P. M. Haas14,
A. Jordan15,
N. Kanie16,17,
T. Kluvánková-Oravská18,
L. Lebel19,
D. Liverman20,21,
J. Meadowcroft22,
R. B. Mitchell23,
P. Newell24,
S. Oberthür25,
L. Olsson2,
P. Pattberg1,
R. Sánchez-Rodríguez26,27,
H. Schroeder15,
A. Underdal28,
S. Camargo Vieira29,
C. Vogel30,
O. R. Young31,
A. Brock1,
R. Zondervan2

¹VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands.
²Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.
³Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
⁴Fridtjof Nansen Institute, 1326 Lysaker, Norway.
⁵University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, Canada.
⁶Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
⁷Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.
⁸Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
⁹University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
¹⁰Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
¹¹Beijer Institute, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden.
¹²Wageningen University and Research Centre, 6706 KN Wageningen, Netherlands.
¹³UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, 2611 AX Delft, Netherlands.
¹⁴University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
¹⁵Tyndall Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.
¹⁶Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan.
¹⁷United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, Yokohama 220-8502, Japan.
¹⁸CETIP, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 814 38 Bratislava, Slovakia.
¹⁹Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 50200 Thailand.
²⁰University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
²¹Oxford University, Oxford OX1 2JD, UK.
²²Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada.
²³University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
²⁴University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9SN, UK.
²⁵Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
²⁶El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Tijuana, 22560 Mexico.
²⁷University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
²⁸University of Oslo, 0317 Oslo, Norway.
²⁹Universidade de Itaúna, 35680-054 Itaúna, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
³⁰Independent scholar, Johannesburg 2010, Gauteng, South Africa.
³¹University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.

↵*Author for correspondence. E-mail: frank.biermann{at}vu.nl

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Science 16 Mar 2012:
Vol. 335, Issue 6074, pp. 1306-1307
DOI: 10.1126/science.1217255

F. Biermann

1VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands.

2Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.

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For correspondence: frank.biermann@vu.nl

K. Abbott

3Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.

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S. Andresen

4Fridtjof Nansen Institute, 1326 Lysaker, Norway.

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K. Bäckstrand

2Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.

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S. Bernstein

5University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, Canada.

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M. M. Betsill

6Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.

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H. Bulkeley

7Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.

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B. Cashore

8Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.

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J. Clapp

9University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.

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C. Folke

10Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.

11Beijer Institute, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden.

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A. Gupta

12Wageningen University and Research Centre, 6706 KN Wageningen, Netherlands.

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J. Gupta

1VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands.

13UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, 2611 AX Delft, Netherlands.

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P. M. Haas

14University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.

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A. Jordan

15Tyndall Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.

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N. Kanie

16Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan.

17United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, Yokohama 220-8502, Japan.

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T. Kluvánková-Oravská

18CETIP, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 814 38 Bratislava, Slovakia.

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L. Lebel

19Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 50200 Thailand.

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D. Liverman

20University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.

21Oxford University, Oxford OX1 2JD, UK.

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J. Meadowcroft

22Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada.

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R. B. Mitchell

23University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.

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P. Newell

24University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9SN, UK.

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S. Oberthür

25Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.

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L. Olsson

2Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.

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P. Pattberg

1VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands.

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R. Sánchez-Rodríguez

26El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Tijuana, 22560 Mexico.

27University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.

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H. Schroeder

15Tyndall Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK.

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A. Underdal

28University of Oslo, 0317 Oslo, Norway.

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S. Camargo Vieira

29Universidade de Itaúna, 35680-054 Itaúna, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

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C. Vogel

30Independent scholar, Johannesburg 2010, Gauteng, South Africa.

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O. R. Young

31University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.

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A. Brock

1VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands.

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R. Zondervan

2Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.

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Summary

Science assessments indicate that human activities are moving several of Earth's sub-systems outside the range of natural variability typical for the previous 500,000 years (1, 2). Human societies must now change course and steer away from critical tipping points in the Earth system that might lead to rapid and irreversible change (3). This requires fundamental reorientation and restructuring of national and international institutions toward more effective Earth system governance and planetary stewardship.

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The United Nations conference in Rio de Janeiro in June is an important opportunity to improve the institutional framework for sustainable development.

Navigating the Anthropocene: Improving Earth System Governance

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