Recently, Executive Director Wendy Broadgate of the Earth Commission and her delegation visited the Department of Earth System Science (DESS), Tsinghua University, where a special scientific meeting was held. The session was chaired by Academician Chen Deliang, Distinguished Professor of Tsinghua University and Chair of DESS.

Participants conducted in-depth discussions on the seven planetary boundaries, explored transformation pathways toward a safe and equitable future, and exchanged views on advancing the Second Assessment of the Earth Commission as well as alignment with the upcoming China Earth Conference.

The meeting laid a solid foundation for the theoretical improvement and practical application of the planetary boundaries framework. Experts reached a number of consensuses on flagship papers and comprehensive reports, further clarified the scientific implications of "just boundaries", and formulated more workable academic criteria for defining "significant harm". This gathering not only provided key support for the Second Assessment of the Earth Commission, but also offered systematic approaches for setting scientific goals in global environmental governance.

Meeting in Progress

Founded jointly by Future Earth and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2019, the Earth Commission is a global scientific organization. It strives to address scientific gaps in global environmental governance through interdisciplinary collaboration and develop quantitative scientific targets for the Earth’s critical systems.

Faculty members from Tsinghua’s Department of Earth System Science (DESS) and researchers from the State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University attended the meeting.

Written by Wang Jiayin and Yu Ruiqi

Reviewed by Chen Deliang and Yu Le