Planetary Guardians

Founding CEO of Virgin Unite, Planetary Guardians and Plus Wonder, Jean Oelwang will deliver a TEDx talk at the TEDxBoston Planet Action Summit this weekend on Nov 16th at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jean’s talk will focus on deepening collaboration to safeguard the Planetary Boundaries, part of the TEDx Planet Action focus on ‘Wisdom in the Natural World’. The programme will cover three days of actionable ideas exploring the solution sets to the compounding issues of climate change, biodiversity loss and the toxicity crisis. The world is experiencing a convergence of technological, engineering, and social systems advances. How will we take advantage and build the future we want? What does a sustainable future actually look like? TEDx Boston Planet Action looks for ways to create connective tissue across Boston and beyond to solve the world’s stickiest challenges. Find out more about TEDx Planet Action Planet Action: https://lnkd.in/ezyj4ycd #TEDxBoston #ClimateAction #PlanetAction #BeAPlanetaryGuardian #Boston #MIT

In partnership with Mission2025, the Planetary Guardians have signed a letter to President Petro of Colombia and President Lula of Brazil that celebrates and seeks to heighten their leadership on integrating nature and climate to deliver a whole planet approach. The nature and climate crises are two sides of the same coin. We solve both or we solve neither. And yet, all too often, the international community is treating them as separate challenges. It is time for a change. Johan Rockstr?m, Director of the PIK - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Jean Oelwang, Founding CEO Virgin Unite, and a wide group of leaders representing business, finance, science, civil society, Indigenous Peoples and youth, have written the letter to both Presidents, hosts of the current global biodiversity conference COP16 in Cali, Colombia, and next year's climate conference COP30 in Belem, Brazil. In the letter, signatories point to this historic opportunity to change course over the next 12 months to deliver a triple win for people, nature and food security. As governments approach the February 2025 deadline to submit updated national climate plans, the signatories write that with Colombia and Brazil’s leadership, "we can make ‘peace with nature’ the principle that gives shape to these national climate action plans.” Full version ? Letter: United action on climate, nature and food transformation #ProtectWhatWeLove #WithNature

????As #COP16Colombia is in full swing, let us reflect on the conference key theme 'Peace for Nature' and the urgent need to restore harmony between humanity and our planet. The planet is an interconnected system, destructive actions in one ecosystem affect the others, just as with organs in the human body. ? ? Recently the Planetary Health Check highlighted how we have pushed Earth towards dangerous limits, threatening the stability of ecosystems and, ultimately, our future. COP16 is not a call to alarm—it is a call to urgent action. We stand at a pivotal crossroads where the global community can unite to shift the trajectory from destructive to regenerative.?? ? Which legacy will you leave??? ? As the @UNBiodiversity convenes, let us harness the momentum and turn this moment into lasting progress for nature and people, our common future #BeaPlanetaryGuardian ???? Planetary Health Check website: https://lnkd.in/ejy_nW-E

Just as a blood test provides insights into a human body's health and identifies areas of concern, the Planetary Health Check evaluates 13 control variables across the 9 Planetary Boundaries to report on Earth’s stability, resilience, and life-support functions, in other words on the overall health of our planet. The 2024 assessment showed that six of the nine Planetary Boundaries have been breached, including: ??? Climate Change ?? Biosphere Integrity ?? Land System Change ?? Freshwater Change ?? Biogeochemical Flows ?? Introduction of Novel Entities All of these show increasing trends, suggesting further transgression in the near future. Three Boundary processes remain -for now- within a Safe Operating Space: ?? Ocean Acidification (close to being breached) ?? Atmospheric Aerosol Loading ?? Stratospheric Ozone Depletion The top colorbar summarizes the distribution of all 13 control variable values at once, the Planetary Health Check "thermometer"! It shows us we are clearly nearing a "high fever", a red zone where tipping points can mean irreversable change, just like a disease which has gone unchecked and untreated can lead to chronic illness or worse. We are literally getting a red alert warning! Check the Planetary Health Check website for further in-depth information on each of the Planetary Boundaries: https://lnkd.in/ejy_nW-E #BeaPlanetaryGuardian?#WhichLegacyWillYouLeave?#PlanetaryBoundaries PIK - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Global Commons Alliance?#EarthHQ Virgin Unite The Mary Robinson Centre David Suzuki Foundation Christiana Figueres Xiye Bastida Farwiza Farhan Ralph Chami Sylvia Earle The Jane Goodall Institute Naoko Ishii Hiro Mizuno Sunita Narain Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim Paul Polman Mamphela Ramphele Robert Redford Juan Manuel Santos Carlos A. Nobre Ayisha Siddiqa

Meet our Planetary Guardians! Each of them legends in their own way, planet warriors, environmental defenders, staunch advocates for Planet Earth, notable scientists, wisdom keepers, visionary leaders, we could not be more proud to call these nineteen environmental heroes our Planetary Guardians ???? Please visit our website for their work as well as their commitment towards elevating the science of the Planetary Boundaries and the Planetary Health Check: www.planetaryguardians.org PIK - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Global Commons Alliance #EarthHQ Virgin Unite The Mary Robinson Centre David Suzuki Foundation Christiana Figueres Xiye Bastida Farwiza Farhan Ralph Chami Sylvia Earle The Jane Goodall Institute Naoko Ishii Hiro Mizuno Sunita Narain Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim Paul Polman Mamphela Ramphele Robert Redford Juan Manuel Santos Carlos A. Nobre Ayisha Siddiqa

Our Planetary Guardians sharing messages of hope and pathways for action, Mary Robinson and Xiye Bastida interview with BBC, thank you Christiana Figueres ????

"Which legacy will you leave? This was the fundamental question asked by Johan Rockstrom and the Planetary Guardians at the launch of the first-ever annual Planetary Health Check." One week on from the inaugural Planetary Health Check, Richard Branson reflects back on the findings of the research as well as what that means next. "We have a narrow window – just five years – to change course. We know the drivers of these breaches and the solutions. The interconnectedness of these systems means a "whole Earth" approach is essential - protecting one boundary helps protect them all. The future of the planet - and humanity - depends on what we do now. Let’s act while we still have the chance". Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/ew8YT-bR PIK - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Global Commons Alliance World Economic Forum Mongabay News Virgin Unite #BeaPlanetaryGuardian #ClimateWeekNYC #ItIsTime #PlanetaryBoundaries #WhichLegacyWillYouLeave

Article published in The Wall Street Journal: “It is really clear that the science and the planet are giving us a red alert right now. The key is how we step up and take responsibility for that scientific alert, said?Jean Oelwang, chief executive of Virgin Unite, the charitable arm of the Virgin Group. She compared the current state of the planet to a patient being rushed into an emergency room with systems failure, then being treated by non-doctors with only band-aids at their disposal." Read full article https://lnkd.in/eWcTFQxD #BeaPlanetaryGuardian #ClimateWeekNYC #WhichLegacyWillYouLeave PIK - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Planetary Guardians Virgin Unite Global Commons Alliance

The Planetary Health Check launch took place Monday 23 September during New York Climate Week, revealing the latest Planetary Boundaries science from the PIK - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. It confirmed that planet Earth?is far outside the safe operating space for humanity and rapidly approaching a state of?red alert. Six of the nine Planetary Boundaries are breached, with the possibility of imminent transgression of a seventh. The Planetary Health Check launch was presented by (nearly all) our Planetary Guardians, and attended by business and community leaders, ministers and dignitaries, activists and artists. Keen to see what it was like? We are pleased to share the full video of the Planetary Health Check launch, now available on YouTube??: https://lnkd.in/eYvFTJF9 ?? Photo Gallery: Johan Rockstrom; Jane Goodall; Christiana Figueres; Xiye Bastida; Professor Carlos A. Nobre; Farwiza Farhan; Jean Oelwang; David Suzuki; KT Tunstall; UK Minister Kerry McCarthy; Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim; Mary Robinson and Mamphela Ramphele; Juan Manuel Santos; Sunita Narain; Sylvia Earle; Wade Davis ??For more information, please visit: Website Planetary Guardians www.planetaryguardians.org Website Planetary Health Check https://lnkd.in/ejy_nW-E #BeaPlanetaryGuardian #ClimateWeekNYC #ItIsTime #WhichLegacyWillYouLeave

Introducing ?????? The Planetary Health Check symbol! Launched along with the latest Planetary Health Check report during New York Climate Week, the symbol represents the current Earth system status and the general trend of increasing pressures. While Earth is in the orange zone, it is not too late for us to act to reverse the trend! The overall diagnostic is that the patient, Planet Earth, is in critical condition. With seven of the nine Planetary Boundary processes showing increasing transgression, we will soon see the majority of them in the high-risk zone, in other words we are getting a Red Alert warning ?? Let us all be Planetary Guardians and step up for Nature and our collective future #BeaPlanetaryGuardian ?? Check our website for more: https://lnkd.in/eUxVz7kn Virgin Unite PIK - Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Global Commons Alliance