It is time to realise and accept that we, as a species, share a responsibility to work together to safeguard all the environmental systems that regulate the functioning and state of the planet.

This is according to Louis Kotzé, research professor at the Faculty of Law of the North-West University (NWU). Prof Kotzé recently served as co-lead author with the world’s leading Earth system scientist, Prof Johan Rockström, on a paper titled "Planetary Commons in the Anthropocene", which was published in the renowned journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

The Anthropocene epoch refers to the period in Earth’s history when human activity began to have a significant impact on the planet’s geology and ecosystems.
In their paper, Prof Rockström and Prof Kotzé argue that global commons (areas that do not belong to any one country) cannot include only the parts of the planet beyond national borders, like the high seas or Antarctica. They must also include all the environmental systems that regulate the functioning and state of the planet, meaning all systems on Earth that we all depend on, no matter where in the world we live.

All tipping elements of the Earth system should be considered global commons, they argue. Tipping elements are critical systems that, if changed beyond a certain threshold, can affect the entire planet.

The publication is the result of a two-year-long research project involving 22 leading international researchers. It was initiated and co-directed by Prof Rockström and Prof Kotzé.

Prof Rockström is the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), co-chair of the Earth Commission, and professor of Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam. In 2023, he was nominated by Time Magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people.

Prof Kotzé is an NRF B1-rated researcher, co-chair of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Earth System Governance Alliance, and a leading environmental law expert.
The research is based on his project at the Research Institute for Sustainability at the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, Germany during his time as the Klaus Töpfer Sustainability Fellow.

Protecting global commons for the collective good

In their paper, Prof Rockström and Prof Kotzé state that global commons or global public goods such as the high seas and deep seabed, outer space, Antarctica and the atmosphere are shared by all states. They lie outside jurisdictional boundaries and sovereign entitlements. All states and people have a collective interest, especially when it comes to resource extraction, that they be protected and governed effectively for the collective good.

The planetary commons expand the idea of the global commons by adding not only globally shared geographic regions to the global commons framework, but also critical biophysical systems that regulate the resilience and state, and therefore liveability, on Earth.

The consequences of such a “planetary shift” in global commons governance are potentially profound, the authors argue. Safeguarding these regulatory functions of critical Earth systems is a challenge at a unique planetary scale of governance, characterised by the need for collective global-scale solutions that transcend national boundaries.

Earth’s critical systems are under pressure
“Stability and wealth of nations and our civilisation depends on the stability of functions of critical Earth systems that operate beyond national borders,” explained Prof Rockström.

“At the same time, human activities push harder and harder on the planetary boundaries of these pivotal systems. From the Amazon rainforest to the Greenland ice masses, there are rising risks of triggering irreversible and unmanageable shifts in the functioning of Earth’s systems. As these shifts affect people across the globe, we argue that tipping elements should be considered as planetary commons that the world is entrusted with, and that are consequently in need of collective governance.” 

Prof Kotzé concluded by saying that: “Earth’s critical regulatory systems are now being put under pressure by human activities at unprecedented levels. Our existing global environmental law and governance framework is unable to address the planetary crisis and keep us from crossing planetary boundaries. This is why we urgently need planetary commons as a new law and governance approach that can safeguard regulating functions for critical Earth systems more effectively.”

Prof Louis Kotzé

Prof Johan Rockström