The Earth Commission, also part of the Global Commons Alliance, is a group of leading social and natural scientists hosted by Future Earth to provide a global-scale assessment of the conditions that define a stable and resilient planet. The Commission is building on and going beyond previous scientific frameworks, such as the Planetary Boundaries (Rockström et al. 2009; Steffen et al. 2015) and has identified quantitative boundary conditions for biophysical systems such as biodiversity, freshwater, land, ocean, and climate as well as considering socioeconomic aspects, justice, and human well-being. Taking into account the complex interactions between the systems, in 2023, the Earth Commission launched a new breakthrough science assessment that defines and quantifies a “safe and just corridor” for human development. They have also assessed knowledge about social levers that can bring about a transformation toward a more sustainable world.
The “science” element of SBTs developed by the Earth Commission will provide critical inputs to the whole process of target setting, particularly Step 2: Interpret & Prioritize and Step 3: Measure, Set & Disclose. Further, the “translation” of the science into targets will be jointly developed by the SBTN and the Earth Commission.