Johan Rockström Explained

Johan Rockström
Birth Date:31 December 1965
Fields:Global sustainability and water resources
Workplaces:Stockholm University
Stockholm Resilience Centre
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Known For:Leading development on the Planetary Boundaries framework
Awards:

Johan Rockström (born 31 December 1965) is a Swedish scientist, internationally recognized for his work on global sustainability issues. He is joint director[1] of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, together with economist Ottmar Edenhofer. Rockström is also chief scientist at Conservation International.[2] He is Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam[3] and Professor in Water Systems and Global Sustainability, Stockholm University.[4]

Rockström has pioneered work on the planetary boundaries framework, first published in 2009. The nine planetary boundaries presented in the framework, from climate to biodiversity, are argued to be fundamental in maintaining a "safe operating space for humanity.[5] "

Rockström was executive director of the Stockholm Environment Institute from 2004–2012, and director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre from 2007–2018.

Career

Johan Rockström studied at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala (soil science and hydrology) and at the Institut national agronomique in Paris (agriculture) from 1987 to 1991. He received his Ph.D. in 1997 from Stockholm University, where his research was on "Systems Ecology and Natural Resource Management." Rockström's previous scientific work has included inter- and transdisciplinary topics on global water resources and land use management, as well as socio-ecological resilience and global material cycles.[6]

In 2009, Rockström led the team that developed the Planetary Boundaries framework, a proposed precondition for facilitating human development at a time when the planet is undergoing rapid change.[7] In recognition of this work, Fokus magazine named him "Swede of the Year" for "engaging and exciting work in sustainable development.[8] In 2010, the magazine Miljöaktuellt ranked him the second most influential person in Sweden on environmental issues, and Veckans Affärer gave him its "Social Capitalist Award".[9] In 2011 he chaired the third Nobel Laureate Symposium on Global Sustainability in Stockholm.[10]

After 12 years as director of Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC), he became the 2018 joint director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), based in Germany, with PIK's current deputy director Professor Ottmar Edenhofer, a climate economist. Rockström and Edenhofer follow PIK director Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber. He is currently member of the Board of the EAT Foundation,[11] the KR Foundation,[12] the Global Challenges Foundation,[13] a fellow for Earth League[14] as well as ch-chair of Future Earth[15] and Earth Commission.[16]

In 2020 he became a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.[17] In 2021, together with David Attenborough, Rockström appeared in the Netflix documentary "Breaking Boundaries" and also released a book called Breaking Boundaries: The Science Behind our Planet.

He has acted as speaker to various high-level international meetings and organisations, such as the World Economic Forum,[18] the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA), the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)[19] and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conferences (UNFCCC).[20] Moreover, he is a member of the European Investment Bank Advisory Group.[21]

Awards

Planetary boundaries

In 2009, Rockström led an international group of 28 leading academics, who proposed a new Earth system framework for government and management agencies as a precondition for sustainable development. Recognizing that rising human pressures on climate and nature have the potential destabilize the entire Earth system, the framework posits that Earth system processes on the planet have boundaries or thresholds that should not be crossed. Staying within the safe operating space for humanity.[27] delimited by the planetary boundaries safeguards the stable environmental conditions that made the emergence of modern societies possible in the first place and will allow coming generations to develop and thrive. The group identified nine "planetary life support systems" essential for human well-being and attempted to quantify just how far these systems have been pushed already. They then estimated how much further we could go before the risk of "irreversible and abrupt environmental change" which could make Earth less habitable increases. Boundaries can help identify where there is room and define a "safe space for human development", which is an improvement over approaches that aim to minimize human impacts on the planet. Humanity has already transgressed five of the nine planetary boundaries[28] putting the prospects of long-term, equitable human development at risk if permanently and substantially exceeded.

According to critics, the exact location of six of these "planetary boundaries" are not proven but arbitrary, such as the 15% limit of earth use to cropland. It is claimed that increased earth use has increased global well-being. They are also connected to local rather than global consequences.[29] [30] The planetary boundaries framework is not a static concept, but requires constant development to reflect progress in its scientific foundation and address the constructive debates around the framework. A broader scientific and conceptual update of the planetary boundaries was published in 2015.[31] More recent publications focused on improving quantifications of individual boundaries,[32] translating global to regional boundaries,[33] [34] interconnections and feedbacks between planetary boundaries,[35] and the quantification of hitherto uncertain boundaries.[28]

Other activities

Corporate boards

Non-profit organization

Publications (selection)

Books

Contributions to journals

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Directors — Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research . 17 March 2022 . www.pik-potsdam.de.
  2. Web site: Johan Rockström, Ph.D. . 2024-03-04 . www.conservation.org.
  3. Web site: Bazant . Daniel . Associate Professors . 17 March 2022 . www.uni-potsdam.de . en-GB.
  4. Web site: Johan Rockström - Stockholm University . 17 March 2022 . www.su.se . en.
  5. Rockström . Johan . Steffen . Will . Noone . Kevin . Persson . Åsa . Chapin . F. Stuart . Lambin . Eric F. . Lenton . Timothy M. . Scheffer . Marten . Folke . Carl . Schellnhuber . Hans Joachim . Nykvist . Björn . September 2009 . A safe operating space for humanity . Nature . en . 461 . 7263 . 472–475 . 10.1038/461472a . 19779433 . 2009Natur.461..472R . 205049746 . 1476-4687. free .
  6. Web site: DBU - "Sicheren Handlungsraum schaffen, in dem globale Entwicklung gedeihen kann" . 21 March 2022 . DBU . de.
  7. Rockström . Johan . Steffen . Will . Noone . Kevin . Persson . Åsa . Chapin . F. Stuart . Lambin . Eric F. . Lenton . Timothy M. . Scheffer . Marten . Folke . Carl . Schellnhuber . Hans Joachim . Nykvist . Björn . de Wit . Cynthia A. . Hughes . Terry . van der Leeuw . Sander . Rodhe . Henning . Sörlin . Sverker . Snyder . Peter K. . Costanza . Robert . Svedin . Uno . Falkenmark . Malin . Karlberg . Louise . Corell . Robert W. . Fabry . Victoria J. . Hansen . James . Walker . Brian . Liverman . Diana . Richardson . Katherine . Crutzen . Paul . Foley . Jonathan A. . A safe operating space for humanity . Nature . Springer Science and Business Media LLC . 461 . 7263 . 2009 . 0028-0836 . 10.1038/461472a . 472–475. 19779433 . 2009Natur.461..472R . 205049746 . free .
  8. http://rs.resalliance.org/2009/12/14/johan-rockstrom-swedens-person-of-year/ Johan Rockstrom Sweden's Person of Year
  9. Web site: ORCID . 17 March 2022 . orcid.org.
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20110519231235/http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2011/05/18/at-stockholm-gathering-of-minds-planet-earth-vs-humanity/ At Stockholm Gathering of Minds: Planet Earth vs. Humanity
  11. Web site: Board of Trustees . 18 March 2022 . EAT . en-US.
  12. Web site: 29 March 2021 . About us - krfnd . 18 March 2022 . da-DK.
  13. Web site: Organisation . 18 March 2022 . The Global Challenges Foundation . en-US.
  14. Web site: Who we are . 18 March 2022 . The Earth League . en-US.
  15. Web site: Johan Rockström . Future Earth . 18 March 2022 . en-US.
  16. Web site: Commissioners . 18 March 2022 . Earth Commission . en-GB.
  17. Web site: Johan Rockström . German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina . 26 May 2021.
  18. Web site: Johan Rockström - Agenda Contributor . 21 March 2022 . World Economic Forum . en.
  19. Web site: 1 July 2019 . SDSN Newsletter — June 2019 . 21 March 2022 . unsdsn.org . en . 5 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210805041639/https://www.unsdsn.org/news/2019/07/01/sdsn-newsletter-june-2019 . dead .
  20. Web site: Solutions For a Climate Crisis . 21 March 2022 . unfccc.int.
  21. Web site: 2 September 2021 . EIB Launches Climate-Focused Advisory Council Chaired by ECB President Christine Lagarde . 21 March 2022 . ESG Today . en-US.
  22. Web site: International Cosmos Prizewinner 2015.
  23. News: Mojib Latif und Johan Rockström erhalten Deutschen Umweltpreis . . 22 September 2015 . de . 10 October 2021.
  24. Web site: 24 June 2020 . The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation reveals 2020 laureates for environmental protection . 17 March 2022 . Monaco Tribune . en-US.
  25. News: Meynhardt . Timo . 26 June 2023 . Johan Rockström erhält Gemeinwohlpreis . 1–3 . HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management Press Release . HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management . Leipzig . 26 June 2023 . 7 August 2023.
  26. Web site: Member in Focus - Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for Johan Rockström . 2024-03-01 . Leopoldina Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften.
  27. 10.1038/461447b. 19779405. Earth's boundaries?. Nature. 461. 7263. 447–448. 2009. 2009Natur.461R.447.. free.
  28. Persson . Linn . Carney Almroth . Bethanie M. . Collins . Christopher D. . Cornell . Sarah . de Wit . Cynthia A. . Diamond . Miriam L. . Fantke . Peter . Hassellöv . Martin . MacLeod . Matthew . Ryberg . Morten W. . Søgaard Jørgensen . Peter . 1 February 2022 . Outside the Safe Operating Space of the Planetary Boundary for Novel Entities . Environmental Science & Technology . 56 . 3 . 1510–1521 . 10.1021/acs.est.1c04158 . 0013-936X . 8811958 . 35038861. 2022EnST...56.1510P .
  29. https://news.yahoo.com/walking-line-identify-safe-limits-human-impacts-planet-120100550.html Walking the Line: How to Identify Safe Limits for Human Impacts on the Planet
  30. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303901504577460900066999454 The Global Doomsayers' Ever-Changing Story
  31. Steffen . Will . Richardson . Katherine . Rockström . Johan . Cornell . Sarah E. . Fetzer . Ingo . Bennett . Elena M. . Biggs . Reinette . Carpenter . Stephen R. . de Vries . Wim . de Wit . Cynthia A. . Folke . Carl . 13 February 2015 . Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet . Science . en . 347 . 6223 . 1259855 . 10.1126/science.1259855 . 25592418 . 1885/13126 . 206561765 . 0036-8075. free .
  32. Gleeson . Tom . Wang-Erlandsson . Lan . Zipper . Samuel C. . Porkka . Miina . Jaramillo . Fernando . Gerten . Dieter . Fetzer . Ingo . Cornell . Sarah E. . Piemontese . Luigi . Gordon . Line J. . Rockström . Johan . 20 March 2020 . The Water Planetary Boundary: Interrogation and Revision . One Earth . English . 2 . 3 . 223–234 . 10.1016/j.oneear.2020.02.009 . 2020OEart...2..223G . 2590-3330. 1828/11681 . free .
  33. Gerten . Dieter . Heck . Vera . Jägermeyr . Jonas . Bodirsky . Benjamin Leon . Fetzer . Ingo . Jalava . Mika . Kummu . Matti . Lucht . Wolfgang . Rockström . Johan . Schaphoff . Sibyll . Schellnhuber . Hans Joachim . March 2020 . Feeding ten billion people is possible within four terrestrial planetary boundaries . Nature Sustainability . en . 3 . 3 . 200–208 . 10.1038/s41893-019-0465-1 . 210835116 . 2398-9629.
  34. Zipper . Samuel C. . Jaramillo . Fernando . Wang-Erlandsson . Lan . Cornell . Sarah E. . Gleeson . Tom . Porkka . Miina . Häyhä . Tiina . Crépin . Anne-Sophie . Fetzer . Ingo . Gerten . Dieter . Hoff . Holger . February 2020 . Integrating the Water Planetary Boundary With Water Management From Local to Global Scales . Earth's Future . en . 8 . 2 . e2019EF001377 . 10.1029/2019EF001377 . 2328-4277 . 7375053 . 32715010. 2020EaFut...801377Z .
  35. Lade . Steven J. . Steffen . Will . de Vries . Wim . Carpenter . Stephen R. . Donges . Jonathan F. . Gerten . Dieter . Hoff . Holger . Newbold . Tim . Richardson . Katherine . Rockström . Johan . February 2020 . Human impacts on planetary boundaries amplified by Earth system interactions . Nature Sustainability . en . 3 . 2 . 119–128 . 10.1038/s41893-019-0454-4 . 209381109 . 2398-9629.
  36. https://www.daimler.com/sustainability/basics/integrity/advisory-board.html Advisory Board for Integrity and Corporate Responsibility
  37. https://gulbenkian.pt/en/the-foundation/gulbenkian-prize-for-humanity/ Jury
  38. https://eatforum.org/people/board-of-trustees/ Board of Trustees
  39. http://krfnd.org/about/ Board
  40. https://globalchallenges.org/about/organisation/ Board
  41. Web site: Who we are . 17 March 2022 . The Earth League . en-US.
  42. Web site: Commissioners . 17 March 2022 . Earth Commission . en-GB.

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