Our Future in the Anthropocene Biosphere: Global sustainability and resilient societies

The corona pandemic has exposed the interconnected, tightly coupled and vulnerable globalised world. This White Paper sets the scientific stage for understanding and responding to such crises for global sustainability and resilient societies. We provide a systemic overview of the current situation; where people and nature are dynamically intertwined and embedded in the biosphere, placing shocks and extreme events as part of this dynamic; where humanity has become the major force in shaping the future of the Earth system as a whole; and where the rapid expansion of the human dimension has caused climate change, simplification of life on earth, growing inequalities, and loss of resilience to deal with uncertainty and surprise. Taken together, human actions are challenging the biosphere foundation for a prosperous development of civilisations. The Anthropocene reality, of rising turbulence, calls for transformative change towards sustainable futures. Emerging technologies, social innovations, broader shifts in cultural repertoires, as well as a diverse portfolio of active stewardship of human actions in support of a resilient biosphere are highlighted as essential parts of such transformations.

Folke et al. 2020. Beijer Discussion Paper 272: Our Future in the Anthropocene Biosphere: Global sustainability and resilient societies. Beijer Discussion Paper Series.