The Safe Operating Space as Our Common Home

The Safe Operating Space as Our Common Home Paulo Magalhães and Alessandro Galli December 15, 2016 Geneva|United Nations Rights of Nature for Peace and Sustainable Development

Which is Our Common Home?

Territorial Space as Legal Object Commons are the leftover

Our planet, is not only a sphere of rocks, water and air, with a surface of 510 millions square kilometers divided between different states.

State of the Earth System as a Non-Territorial feature of our Planet

Intangible Space with Non-Territorial Character

Favorable State of the Earth System Intangible Natural Resource with Non-Territorial Character NO LEGAL EXISTENCE “International law itself was (and to a certain extent remains) ill-equipped to address State activities affecting negatively an Intangible Natural Resource, which spans across and beyond the national territories of States”. (Simone Borg, 2009)

Legal no-existence = Economical Invisibility = No Social Existence • A basic problem that usually we do not see and therefore do not understand, is the structural problem the undermines all the system: The legal approach. • As a structural problem, without solving it, we cannot reach results at the scale of the problem.

Which is our Common Home? Our Common Home should not be considered the physical planet with 510 million square km 2, (the territorial planet already between States) divided but rather the specific favourable state of the Earth System, taking as a reference period the geological epoch of the last 11. 700 years, the Holocene. The Intangible Home!

Towards our Common Home • Only by differentiating the physical planet, where sovereignties can be defined, from the Earth System and its favourable state can we consider this “non-geographic space” as our truly “Common Home”. • If we recognize the favourable state of the Earth System as new object of Law, which exists simultaneously inside and outside all sovereignties, we could have theoretical foundations to imagine alternative ways to manage our use of the Earth System.

This intangible space is our “Intangible Home”

The Planetary Boundaries framework defines a Safe Operating Space for Humanity based on the intrinsic biophysical processes that regulate the stability of the Earth System

Safe Operating Space = Our Common Intangible Home The concept of the “Anthropocene” enables us to say that we are moving out of the Holocene and into a new geological epoch. In doing so, we are in a process of transition away from the “Safe Operating Space” and moving towards new and clearly unsafe space. In other words we are moving to a state of the Earth System that does not serve as Our Common Home

• With the definition of our “Safe Operating Space” by the Planetary Boundaries framework, it becomes possible to define our “Intangible Common Home”. This enables the recognition of a New Value to be legally protected as an international autonomous legal good. New value = Intangible Nature Bio-geophysical features of the favorable State (Holocene-like Period) of the Earth System

Holocene bio-geophysical features as an Heritage We can argue that the state of the Earth System corresponding to the geological period of the Holocene defines the meaning of Heritage as something we need to preserve in the interest of present and future generations. The concept of Common Heritage of Humankind best suits the characteristics of this truly universal good.

The Fundamental Question 1) Is it necessary to identify the legal status of climate? ( Climate is part of the Earth System) 2) Will we gain anything from doing so? Simone Borg (2001) The Fundamental Answer • “How can we admit that a good that belongs to no one, may be governed by a specific law? ” Alexandre Kiss (1982)

Why do we need to recognize the legal existence of the favorable Earth System State? • Without the legal existence, there is no possibility to translate these global bio-geophysical parameters in terms of rights and obligations of States (i. e. , the use of the Earth System cannot be governed). • Despite this new Legal Recognition is a basic step to organize our use of the Earth System, it is not sufficient to achieve this goal.

• The supreme value of keeping the state of the Earth System within the Safe Operating Space, and avoiding a “Tipping Point”, is worth zero in economic terms. • “A significant part of this challenge is to make the work of the biosphere visible in society, in human actions and in financial and economic transactions”. Carl Folke (2011)

• The work of the biosphere can be only seen and recognized in our society if this work first exists in legal terms. Moreover, to be visible it must be recognized at its true scale: The global scale. • The Intangible heritage should be the tool for capturing and representing this global work.

The Need of an Integrated Approach • “Tropical forests that have significant feedbacks to climate via changes in evapotranspiration when they are converted to non-forested systems , while changes in the distribution of boreal forests affect the albedo of the land surface and hence regional energy exchange. Both have strong regional and global teleconnections” (Steffen et al 2015) • Any partial approach is an obstacle to reach positive and sustainable results.

Towards a New Integrated measurement tool: the Earth System Accounting Framework (ESAF) • Measuring the Earth System vs. measuring our relationships with it. That is, we should measure ourselves and our activities

Earth System Accounting Framework (ESAF): should consist of four integrated and interdependent elements: • A bio-geophysical element – to measure mankind maintenance or perturbation of the Holocene-like state of the Earth System (humanity’s SOS); • An economic element – to reward the countries contributing to the maintenance (or even the improvement) of the favorable state of the Earth System at the expense of those perturbing it. • A legal element – to support the economic compensation scheme in ensuring equity and justice • A governance element – to establish the limits of the use of resources among Nations

• Bridge the gap: the global intrinsic features of the ES structure and functioning vs. the governance needs to act on the perturbing human activities at national/local scales • ESAF bio-geophysical element would consist of a suite of indicators structured to measure the extent to which human consumption activities in a given country contribute to a deviation from the global baseline identified for the specific PB. +xx% Global Baseline -xx% t CO 2 per US$ or t CO 2 person Carbon Footprint CO 2 released into the atmosphere due to the consumption activities of a country’s residents

The relevant question is the following: • As long as the value of the Biosphere is only visible through its destruction, it is impossible to reach the civilizational journey from Explorers and Exploiters. . . to Guardians and Managers.

• Who are we? : a multidisciplinary group of jurists, Earth system scientists, environmentalists, economists, social scientists and philosophers who stand behind the creation of an innovative and visionary initiative Common Home of Humanity • Our Aims: – 1 ) Legal recognition of the Holocene-like state of the Earth System as a Natural Intangible Common Heritage of Humankind – 2) Making the work of the biosphere visible in society, in human actions and in financial and economic transactions: Earth System Accounting Framework (ESAF).

Thank you!