Planetary boundaries

Martina Zimek, Josef-Peter Schöggl and Rupert J. Baumgartner

Chapter 123 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, 2026, pp 461-467 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The Planetary Boundaries (PBs) concept includes nine biophysical boundaries of the Earth system, which must be respected in order to maintain a “safe operating space” for humanity. To maintain a “safe and just space for humanity,” a donut-shaped framework embodies the safe operating space, which means living below the PBs and above 12 social boundaries. The application and practicability of the PBs concept are widely discussed in the scientific community, including the LCSA community. Although some discussions exist in the field of Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC), the focus is on environmental aspects (LCA). A combination of PBs with LCA brings several advantages, e.g., setting impact-reduction targets in LCA, considering global scales in LCA, and assessing the absolute environmental sustainability of products/services. With regard to LCSA, despite intensive research, there are still numerous methodological uncertainties. This is therefore a challenge when combining it with other concepts such as PBs. Several approaches and frameworks already exist to combine LC(S)A with PBs, but the complexity and breadth of the topic open up a great deal of research potential and many unanswered questions, which makes it an exciting field of research in the future.

Keywords: Planetary Boundaries; Societal Boundaries; Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment; Life Cycle Impact Assessment; Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment; Methodological Challenges (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035309887
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