An Earth system law perspective on governing social-hydrological systems in the Anthropocene

Ahlström, Hanna; Hileman, Jacob; Wang‐Erlandsson, Lan; García, María Mancilla; Moore, Michele‐Lee; Jonas, Krisztina; Pranindita, Agnes; Kuiper, Jan J.; Fetzer, Ingo; Jaramillo, Fernando; Svedin, Uno

doi:10.1016/j.esg.2021.100120

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 132 publications

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“…We find that moisture recycling is simultaneously a transboundary phenomenon and that any management will likely need to be integrated with intersectoral resource governance. This is echoed by Ahlström et al (2021), suggesting opportunities for engagement with resource management authorities, regional scientific organizations, and other forms of transboundary decision-making (Keys et al, 2017;te Wierik et al, 2020). The advent of computationally efficient simulations of Earth system dynamics (which include human societies) permits a new window into understanding the practical consequences of transgressing social and ecological tipping points (Wunderling et al, 2020(Wunderling et al, , 2021.…”

Section: Uncertainties and Research Frontiersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric water recycling an essential feature of critical natural asset stewardship

Keys,

Collins,

Chaplin-Kramer

et al. 2024

Glob. Sustain.

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Non-technical summary In this paper, we explore how critically important ecosystems on the land provide evaporation to the atmosphere, which will later fall as precipitation elsewhere. Using a model-based analysis that tracks water flowing through the atmosphere, we find that more than two-thirds of the precipitation over critically important ecosystem areas is supplied by evaporation from other land. Likewise, more than 40% of the evaporation from critically important ecosystems falls as precipitation on other land. We conclude our work by discussing the policy implications for how these critically important ecosystems connect spatially distant wild and working lands via the atmospheric water cycle. Technical summary Global ecosystems are interconnected via atmospheric water vapor flows. Land use change can modify evaporation from land, altering atmospheric moisture recycling and potentially leading to significant changes in downwind precipitation and associated ecological impacts. We combine insights on global ecosystem-regulated moisture recycling with an analysis of critical natural assets (CNA, the 30% of global land providing most of nature's contributions to people) to reveal the sources and sinks of atmospheric water cycle regulation. We find that 65% of the precipitation over CNA is supplied by evaporation from other land areas. Likewise, CNA regions supply critical moisture as precipitation to terrestrial natural ecosystems and production systems worldwide, with 44% of CNA evaporation falling on terrestrial surfaces. Specifically, the Congo River basin emerges as a hotspot of overlap between local atmospheric water cycle maintenance and concentration of nature's contributions to people. Our results suggest global priority areas for conservation efforts beyond and in support of CNA, emphasizing the importance of sparsely populated managed forests and rangelands, along with wild forests, for fostering moisture recycling to and within CNA. This work also underlines the manifold benefits associated with achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #15, to sustainably manage terrestrial life and conserve biodiversity. Social media summary Critically important ecosystems are essential for connecting distant landscapes via the atmospheric water cycle.

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Section: Uncertainties and Research Frontiersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric water recycling an essential feature of critical natural asset stewardship

Keys,

Collins,

Chaplin-Kramer

et al. 2024

Glob. Sustain.

Self Cite

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“…• Through its coupled social-ecological systems orientation, embraces diffuse forms of agency and dynamic interactions which, in turn, propagates polycentric, multi-level, multi-actor governance interventions that rely on a mix of norms that simultaneously operate and interact in bottom-up and top-down ways and that regulate issues such as accountability, power relations between different actors, planetary harm, injustices and enforcement of norms (e.g. Ahlström et al, 2021;du Toit et al, 2021;du Toit & Kotzé, 2022;Gellers, 2021;Kotzé, 2020;Mai & Boulot, 2021;Petersmann, 2021;Pope et al, 2021;van Asselt, 2021;van Dijk, 2021).…”

Section: E Arth System L Aw: a Brief Conce P Tu Ali Sat Ionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Courts, climate litigation and the evolution of earth system law

Kotzé,

Mayer,

van Asselt

et al. 2023

Global Policy

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Numerous scientific reports have evidenced the transformation of the earth system due to human activities. These changes – captured under the term ‘Anthropocene’ – require a new perspective on global law and policy. The concept of ‘earth system law’ situates law in an earth system context and offers a new perspective to interrogate the role of law in governing planetary challenges such as climate change. The discourse on earth system law has not yet fully recognised courts as actors that could shape climate governance, while climate litigation discourse has insufficiently considered aspects of earth system law. We posit that courts play an increasingly influential climate governance role and that they need to be recognised as Anthropocene institutions within the earth system law paradigm. Drawing on a set of prominent climate cases, we discuss five inter‐related domains that are relevant for earth system law and where the potential influence of courts can be discerned: establishing accountability, redefining power relations, remedying vulnerabilities and injustices, increasing the reach and impact of international climate law and applying climate science to adjudicate legal disputes. We suggest that their innovative work in these domains could provide a basis for positioning courts as planetary climate governance actors.

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“…Scholars are increasingly exploring alternative visions for international environmental law in the Anthropocene, alternatives that they hope will be more fully able to respond legally to the prevailing Anthropocene reality that is filled with nexuses, as it were (Kotzé, 2017; Webster & Mai, 2021). One candidate is earth system law, an innovative legal imaginary that is rooted in the Anthropocene's planetary context and its perceived socioecological crisis (Kotzé & Kim, 2019; see also Ahlström et al, 2021; Cardesa‐Salzman & Cocciolo, 2019; Du Toit et al, 2021; Gellers, 2021; Du Toit & Kotzé, 2022; Kim et al, 2022; Kotzé, Kim, Blanchard, et al, 2022a; Mai & Boulot, 2021; Petersmann, 2021; Pope et al, 2021; van Asselt, 2021; van Dijk, 2021).…”

Section: Earth System Law: a Conceptual Framework For Law In The Anth...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards planetary nexus governance in the Anthropocene: An earth system law perspective

Kotzé

2022

Global Policy

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Nexus governance recognises that sustainability concerns such as water, energy, and food security are interlinked and provides an alternative to fragmented governance. Although it has been applied mostly in the domestic context, the need for nexus governance is also apparent at a planetary scale, as highlighted by interacting planetary boundaries, global telecoupling, and global tipping cascades. However, international environmental law is unable to facilitate what we call ‘planetary nexus governance’. This is mainly because international environmental law lacks an ecological Grundnorm and because its primary rules of conduct remain fragmented in the absence of effective secondary rules on how primary rules should relate to each other. Recognising this challenge, scholars have recently proposed earth system law as a new framework to rethink, in an integrated way, law in an Anthropocene context. Building on this framework, we suggest that international environmental law should adopt a unifying Grundnorm such as planetary integrity. We also suggest that international institutional law, as a body of secondary rules, has an important role to play in facilitating planetary nexus governance by bringing together fragmented bodies of international law. We briefly discuss ways in which international environmental law could reorientate itself to better facilitate planetary nexus governance.

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An Earth system law perspective on governing social-hydrological systems in the Anthropocene

Cited by 15 publications

References 132 publications

Atmospheric water recycling an essential feature of critical natural asset stewardship

Atmospheric water recycling an essential feature of critical natural asset stewardship

Courts, climate litigation and the evolution of earth system law

Towards planetary nexus governance in the Anthropocene: An earth system law perspective

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