Transforming SDG with Planetary Science: Transcending Global Sustainable Development Ambition with Science of Planetary Boundaries A. Transform global governance highgrounds with practical sustainability challenges: • Pivot of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the Paris Agreement from 2015 marked a key critical turn to the course of today's multilateral diplomacy, essentially on a forward-looking highground of shared development ambition substantive to the collective decision-making ambition from all 193 representative member states at the UN General Assembly; • Practical development challenge on the ground, however, varies greatly, particularly with immense structural deficit exacerbated by limited economic-social capacity and institution across nations in the Global South, where lacks of required development resource and reform prioritization/sequencing further handicap forward-looking development notably at today’s crisis transition (see precedent of exacerbating food crisis in 2022 as reflected at the Assembly); B. Resonate science in advocacy of diplomacy with reciprocal development priorities: • Application of planetary science is nevertheless well-positioned to inform development priorities, considering in particular an evidence-based approach respective to biophysical and geological landscape in each global nation, and thereby substantiating a mutually inclusive sustainable development baseline, provided broad-based governance premises across environmental and socio-economic realms, as demonstrated by leadership precedent of Sweden (see relevant discussion and Exhibit in references to nine planetary boundaries); • Joint sustainable development pathways substantive to global governance collaboration are also encouraging in this new approach notably in integration across dimensions capacity and institutional development but also mid to long-term fiscal/budgetary and financial plan, all conducive to the structural reform, for instance from clean water resource stewardship and sustainable land use to climate-smart agricultural and infrastructure development, driven by global and regional sustainability ambition grounded on merits of scientific premise; C. Transcend multilateral principle with the universality of rights to development: • Governance decision with the whole-of-ecosystem integrity is therefore a prerequisite to the global sustainable and climate diplomacy, substantiated by moral principle of justice and fairness that universally acknowledges the rights to development for all, and thereby bringing together leadership recognition of participative action from all nations to the transition toward 2030 and beyond.

1. Bangkok, Thailand / Page 1 (3) Edition: June 18, 2022
Transforming SDG with Planetary Science
Transcending Global Sustainable Development Ambition with
Science of Planetary Boundaries
Siripong Treetasanatavorn
Sloan Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Planetary Science and Implications to Global Sustainable Governance:
A. Transform global governance highgrounds with practical sustainability challenges:
• Pivot of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the
Paris Agreement from 2015 marked a key critical turn to the course of today's
multilateral diplomacy, essentially on a forward-looking highground of shared
development ambition substantive to the collective decision-making ambition
from all 193 representative member states at the UN General Assembly;1
• Practical development challenge on the ground, however, varies greatly,
particularly with immense structural deficit exacerbated by limited economic-
social capacity and institution across nations in the Global South, where lacks
of required development resource and reform prioritization/sequencing further
handicap forward-looking development notably at today’s crisis transition (see
precedent of exacerbating food crisis in 2022 as reflected at the Assembly2
);
B. Resonate science in advocacy of diplomacy with reciprocal development priorities:
• Application of planetary science is nevertheless well-positioned to inform
development priorities, considering in particular an evidence-based approach
respective to biophysical and geological landscape in each global nation, and
thereby substantiating a mutually inclusive sustainable development baseline,
provided broad-based governance premises across environmental and socio-
economic realms, as demonstrated by leadership precedent of Sweden (see
relevant discussion and Exhibit in references to nine planetary boundaries³);
• Joint sustainable development pathways substantive to global governance
collaboration are also encouraging in this new approach notably in integration
across dimensions capacity and institutional development but also mid to long
term fiscal/budgetary and financial plan, all conducive to the structural reform,
for instance from clean water resource stewardship and sustainable land use
to climate-smart agricultural and infrastructure development, driven by global
and regional sustainability ambition grounded on merits of scientific premise;4

2. S. Treetasanatavorn. Transforming SDG with Planetary Science
Edition: June 18, 2022 Bangkok, Thailand / Page 2 (3)
Exhibit: Example application of science to (a) global development baseline across
nine planetary boundaries (upper left) on a national level (upper right) from Sweden,
also with (b) recommendation for regulatory criteria (table) for the greenhouse gas
(GHG) and nitrogen cycle as well as freshwater and land use³
C. Transcend multilateral principle with the universality of rights to development:
• Governance decision with the whole-of-ecosystem integrity is therefore a
prerequisite to the global sustainable and climate diplomacy, substantiated by
moral principle of justice and fairness that universally acknowledges the rights
to development for all, and thereby bringing together leadership recognition of
participative action from all nations to the transition toward 2030 and beyond.5

3. S. Treetasanatavorn. Transforming SDG with Planetary Science
Bangkok, Thailand: Page 3 (3) Edition: June 18, 2022
References (in appearance order):
1. See corresponding resolution from the UN General Assembly (2015):
https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs
/globalcompact/A_RES_70_1_E.pdf; also for the Paris Agreement (2015):
https://unfccc.int/files/meetings/paris_nov_2015/application/pdf/paris_agreement_eng
lish_.pdf
2. See the example of food crisis (SDG2) from the UN General Assembly (2022):
https://www.un.org/press/en/2022/ga12421.doc.htm
3. See research result with corresponding development policy recommendation at
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (2012):
https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-SRC-SwedishEPA-
NationalEnvironmentalPerformanceOnPlanetaryBoundaries-Report6576-2013.pdf
4. See discussion of the planetary boundaries at the Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences (2011): https://www.stockholmresilience.org/publications/publications/2011-
10-18-the-anthropocene-from-global-change-to-planetary-stewardship.html; also the
original idea as published in Ecology and Society (2009):
https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss2/art32/
5. See discussion of all nine planetary boundaries in broader sustainable development
context at Science (2015): https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1259855; See also final
remarks by the President of Stockholm+50 Conference (2022), particularly in
advocacy of a system approach at today's global climate crossroads:
https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/40110/Key%20Messages%2
0and%20Recommendations%20-%20Formatted.pdf