The planetary boundaries framework highlights the rising risks from human pressure on nine critical global processes that regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth, one of which is biosphere integrity. Planetary boundaries are quantitative assessments of the safe limits for human pressure on these nine critical processes.
According to the Stockholm Resilience Centre, seven of the nine breached planetary boundaries have been breached: are: Climate change, Biosphere integrity, Land system change, Freshwater use, Biogeochemical flows, Novel entities, and just since 2025, Ocean acidification. All seven boundaries show worsening trends. Only Ozone depletion and Aerosols loading remain within what is considered a safe zone.
The planetary boundary for biodiversity is quantified via two dimensions—genetic diversity and planetary function—each measured via suitable proxies.
The boundary for genetic biodiversity is aligned to the extinction rate of <10 E/MSY (extinctions per million species-years). With current extinction rates well above this threshold, the genetic component of biosphere integrity boundary is markedly exceeded.
The boundary for functional biosphere integrity was redefined in 2023 as the amount of human appropriation of the biosphere’s net primary production of energy and material flows (HANPP). The boundary has been provisionally set at 10% of pre-industrial Holocene mean NPP (with the zone of high risk at 20%). According to this calculation, the boundary for functional biosphere integrity was exceeded in the late 19th century.
Source: Stockholm Resilience Centre; Planetary Health Check, 2025; Richardson et al, (2023) Earth beyond six of the nine planetary boundaries. Science Advances, vol, 9, Issue 37. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh2458
