For a safe and prosperous future for all, we must bring focus onto the global commons

Published on August 27th, 2024

Are the climate talks and COP (Conference of Parties) processes failing humanity? Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Co-president of The Club of Rome, recently warned that we are both failing on the Paris Agreement and to deliver action at the speed and scale necessary to avert the worst effects of global warming. She urges the United Nations to shift gears and radically transform the COP process, to ensure a safe and just future for humanity.

If we’re going to avoid failure on climate, then safeguarding the global commons must be a focus. Because what many do not yet understand is that tackling emissions reductions effectively requires adopting a whole Earth-system approach. This means not just focusing on climate, but nature and other underpinning natural processes too. From the Arctic sea ice to the Amazon rainforest, from critical ocean currents to our freshwater network, the global commons support the well-being of all life on Earth. 

In most regions we are still accelerating biodiversity loss. Squandering the nature and natural resource base, which is in fact our best friend in riding out extreme weather events. Rapidly declining nature is reducing climate resilience and making devastating disasters and forced human migration more likely.

In the meantime, climate-siloed thinking means maladaptation is booming. We can’t employ technical fixes or plant monoculture forests to get out of this. We need to urgently shift nature into the climate COP framework by integrating the global commons. Not doing so risks slowing rather than accelerating that gear shift Sandrine Dixson-Declève mentions toward substantive progress at the pace and scale necessary.

Leadership is needed not only within the UN institutions but also locally and nationally. Others are beginning to echo this. The Climate Governance Commission is now calling for a whole Earth system approach, led by natural and social scientists. And this process is already well underway through the Global Commons Alliance's Earth Commission. This global team of scientists and expert working groups are combining Earth system science with social science, to define Safe and Just Earth System Boundaries for people and the planet.

Building on previous science, including the Planetary Boundaries work, these boundaries consider intragenerational justice, intergenerational justice and interspecies justice in the same metrics as those determining the stability and resilience of the Earth system. This means that we have a clear destination - a defined safe and just space - which combines climate, nature and social justice in one framework, and which can guide governance, policies and investments towards synergies at all scales. This has the power to be a north star for the just transition.

Already this new science is helping inform the development of science-based targets for nature that companies and cities can adopt. Trail-blazing companies have just concluded a successful pilot, which could be the blueprint for industries around the world who are ready to act on nature in tandem with climate.

This integration at the practical level also avoids over-relying on multilateral processes, which would be unwise. Because while introducing new governance and treaties for the global commons is crucial, we must at the same time drive change from the ground upwards.

Companies, cities and citizens alike have key roles to play.  This year the Earth Commission will further strengthen our understanding of the transformation pathways needed to reach the Safe and Just space, including the governance and economic conditions. And a lot of good work is already happening to develop clear scientific guidance, including by the leading scientists recently awarded the Frontiers Planet Prize, who are  informing system transformation across multiple Earth System Boundaries. 

Many multi-stakeholder partnerships are working together to share knowledge and regenerate their landscapes, bringing back hope as well  as nature and prosperity.  The first group of cities is working with GCA to explore what it means to live within Earth system boundaries, including for their economic development.  Bold and connected leadership by citizens, cities and businesses  offers the opportunity to drive rapid positive change in terms of sustainable production and consumption. This can be the game-changer that can deliver the "five turnarounds" for planetary resilience that Sandrine mentions.

There is much to do to truly connect global and local efforts and to combine the power of policy and governance with that of market-led and community-led solutions. That is the challenge the Global Commons Alliance sees and we intend to play a big role in orchestrating these connections, to bring greater impact. One important development is developing joint narratives and collaborating with  health and humanitarian partners to drive integrated policies for resilience.  That is essential to enhance human security through better managing nature at scale.  We could also effectively integrate commitments and actions by connecting the Multilateral Environmental Agreements instead of holding separate COPs. And as a physical process goes, I agree with Sandrine that smaller, more frequent and regionalized meetings will also help enable a more inclusive and multi-stakeholder approach to drive change.

Amplifying stories and voices is an essential ingredient to move people to demand meaningful action and to develop advocacy champions. Our role as an Alliance spans many different sectors and GCA's Earth Public Information Collaborative is one of our arms that is swinging into action with massive support from media, marketing and creative industries, to about-turn the marketing and advertising sector in the right direction.

From COP reform to safeguarding our global commons, I’m excited about the thriving world this work can help achieve: about humanity working together across sectors at all levels, to re-imagine and transform how we live our lives with nature for good.

[1] https://policylabs.frontiersin.org/content/commentary-we-need-an-urgent-reform-of-our-climate-cops-to-enable-real-climate-action

[2] https://globalgovernanceforum.org/climate-governance-commission/

[3] https://earthcommission.org/

[4] https://globalcommonsalliance.org/just-world-safe-planet/

[5] https://sciencebasedtargetsnetwork.org/case-studies/leading-the-way-initial-learnings-from-sbtns-target-validation-pilot/

[6] https://www.frontiersplanetprize.org/