Unveiling global sustainability boundaries: exploring inner dimensions of human critical determinants for sustainability

Filipe Duarte Santos1, Tim O’Riordan2, Miguel Rocha de Sousa3,4,5, Jiesper Tristan Strandsbjerg Pedersen1,6
1cE3c-Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes and Changes-Global Change and Sustainability Institute and Department of Physics, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa (Faculty of Sciences University of Lisbon), Lisbon, Portugal
2School of Environmental Sciences Member, Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE), University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
3Department of Economics, CICP and CEFAGE, University of Évora, Évora, Portugal
4IPSA, International Political Science Association, Research Committee (RC) 35 Tech and Development, Chair, Ottawa, Canada
5SASE-Society for Advancement of Socio-Economics, Paris, France
6Geosciences, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Environmental Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Tóm tắt

Greater global awareness and action to implement sustainable development are underway. However, global progress towards sustainability has been slow. Advancing towards some form of sustainability requires greater attention and analysis of the role played by the human inner world. While the scientific analytic tools have focused on external aspects, we present a scientific methodology to identify human critical determinants (HCDs) acquired during the human biological and cultural evolution, which, although crucial for survival, well-being, and economic prosperity, may also currently act as human sustainability boundaries (HSDs). These boundaries can be softened by personal transformations with the capability of spurring resonant institutional and governance transformations. This commentary examines how a definable set of interacting and interdependent HCD provides a complete and coherent explanation of why reaching sustainability is currently an elusive objective.

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