Navigating the Anthropocene: Improving Earth System Governance

This paper elaborates upon the environmental change brought by human activity and argues that "steer[ing] away from critical tipping points in the Earth system... requires fundamental reorientation and restructuring of national and international institutions toward more effective Earth system governance and planetary stewardship." The report emphasizes the importance of this in anticipation of the Rio+20 Conference in 2012, where a roadmap for sustainable development and humanitarian endeavors will be laid out for the next decade. The article articulates "Seven Building Blocks" critical to "develop[ing] a clear and ambitious roadmap for institutional change and effective sustainability governance," including reform of major environmental agencies, better integration of the social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainable development into UN endeavors, and placing a greater emphasis on sustainable concerns within economic governance, among other things.