Interactions on EU level

In 2016, the centre was part of a consortium commissioned by the European Environment Agency to review the operationalisation of the planetary boundaries concept. Centre researchers with partners carried out a technical “downscaling” analysis of planetary boundaries’ limits at EU level, assessed EU performance in terms of its consumption and production footprints in the global context, and identified some of the most important policy levers that deal with planetary boundaries processes at the European level. The study contributed to a multi-stakeholder evaluation of how the concept can inform EU policies with a long-term perspective, in particular under the EU’s 7th Environment Action Programme and UN 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.

The High Level Group on Innovation Policy Management (HLGI)

Researchers and members of the centre leadership were in 2016 among the members of an expert group advising EU institutions on innovation and sustainability.

The same year it published a report on the transition to a more equitable and sustainable global economy. The report, entitled “Through resilience thinking towards sustainability and innovation” was produced by a working group on resilience management and circular economy. Stockholm Resilience Centre is the academic partner of the working group. It works under the aegis of the High Level Group, an independent group of innovation experts from the European Council, the European Commission, EU Member State governments, leading international business and academia.

Concrete recommendations for further action in this direction were presented to the EU institutions and Member States, notably on the notion of making sustainability through resilience thinking an overarching EU policy principle.

Getting into the Right Lane for 2050: A Primer for EU Debate

This report, prepared by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency in collaboration with the Stockholm Resilience Centre, presented a positive vision for a sustainable Europe in 2050, drawing on current EU policy discussions.

Based on this vision, the report also highlighted key policy actions that need to be taken within the next five to ten years in order for the EU to meet these long-term goals. The report was designed to contribute to the debate on the long-term agenda of the next European Commission and the coming presidencies. In the report, the European Union is placed in a visionary global perspective for 2050 of producing food for a global population of nine billion, while minimising biodiversity loss; mitigating climate change, while enhancing energy security; and developing a low-carbon transport system for the EU.

Click here to read more about the report