Planetary Boundary for Novel Entities: Time for a Reboot
Novel entities are diverse and complex; hence, defining their Planetary Boundary through control variables, indicators, and acceptable limits is challenging. Here, we highlight shortcomings of the current quantitative boundary, which applies a purely precautionary interpretation of safety that defines the safe operating space as zero novel entities that are not fully characterized. In practice, the zero limit is unattainable and undesirable for human societies that rely on services provided by novel entities. Furthermore, it is not operational within the framework of other boundaries, which have risk-based thresholds. We therefore propose a reboot of the Planetary Boundary for Novel Entities and recommend governance and monitoring strategies based on: (a) clarification of the "safe operating space" for novel entities, distinguishing pure precaution ("safe from the unknown") from operational precaution that tolerates a workable, non-zero level of uncertainty; (b) complementary, multilayer control variables spanning pressures, states, and impacts; (c) extensions to existing monitoring systems to provide quantitative indicators of distribution, accumulation, exposure, and impacts for subsets of novel entities to communicate the status and trends of stress from novel entities on the Earth system; and (d) recognition of regulatory and policy-related success stories that illustrate comprehensive, protective, and operational governance of novel entities.
Authors
- Annika Jahnke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7815-151X)
- Katrin Wendt‐Potthoff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7407-3312)
- Beate Isabella Escher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5304-706X)
- Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8501-051X)
- Matthew MacLeod (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2562-7339)
- Bethanie Carney Almroth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5037-4612)
- Miriam L. Diamond (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6296-6431)
- Christian Schmidt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9787-8327)
- Dana Kühnel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1712-6278)
- Ad M.J. Ragas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6200-6366)
- Marlene Ågerstrand (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2697-2310)
- Gabriele Treu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9277-1835)
- Peter Fantke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7148-6982)
- Levke Caesar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5626-0392)
- Zhanyun Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9914-7659)
- Werner Brack
- Boris Sakschewski
- Anna Lia S. Tromer Dragsdahl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3815-2260)
- Yuge Bai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7331-5395)
- Volker Strauss
Institutions
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- Goethe-Institute United Kingdom (GB)
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE)
- Stockholm Resilience Centre (SE)
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- University of South Africa (ZA)
- University of Southern Denmark (DK)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- University of the Free State (ZA)
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE)
- BG Klinik Tübingen (DE)
- Leibniz Association (DE)
- Quantitative BioSciences (US)
- Center for Assessment (US)
- German Environment Agency (DE)
- Mineral Resources (AU)
- Institute for Advanced Study (DE)
- Institute for Sustainability (GB)
- Environmental Earth Sciences (AU)
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (DE)
- Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (CH)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- RWTH Aachen University (DE)
- Technical University of Denmark (DK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Published
- 2026-07-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6c03044
- Primary Topic
- Occupational Health and Safety Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00