Planetary accounting
Quantifying how to live within the planet's limits.
What is planetary accounting?
Planetary Accounting is a way of translating non-negotiable environmental limits (Planetary Boundaries) - such as climate change, and biodiversity loss - into actionable, science based, environmental budgets that can be scaled for use at any level. It divides these global challenges into manageable chunks that each of us - from individuals to chief executives, city councilors, or national committee members – can tackle.
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Planetary Accounting is a platform for science-based target setting and decision-making. It can help us understand the the impacts of simple choices such as, 'shall I take the bus or drive the car to work today?’ on global limits such as air pollution, biodiversity loss, deforestation, and greenhouse gas emissions. The high resolution of Planetary Accounting means it can be applied across many different scales and applications, from informing city planning, to setting corporate sustainability goals, to product labels and individual behaviour change programs.
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The framework was first published by peer reviewed Biomed Central journal Sustainable Earth, and the updated framework was subsequently released as a text book by Springer.
How does it work?
Planetary Accounting is like carbon accounting, for nature.
Carbon accounting can be used to quantify the impacts of human activity on climate change, in context of what is needed to limit global warming to 1.5C.
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Planetary Accounting enables us to quantify the broader environmental impacts of human activity, including on climate change, in context of critical global limits called the Planetary Boundaries.
Planetary Accounting is a scientifically peer reviewed framework that was first published in Sustainable Earth - a Springer Nature Journal in 2018 and has since had 59 citations.
It was then published by Springer as a text-book in 2020.
As of 2025 we have crossed 7 of 9 Planetary boundaries
Credit: Azote for Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University. Based on Sakschewski and Caesar et al. 2025, Richardson et al. 2023, Steffen et al. 2015, and Rockström et al. 2009
The Planetary Boundaries
In 2009, a group of internationally renowned scientists identified nine non-negotiable environmental limits for the planet – which they called the Planetary Boundaries. In 2009 we were exceeding three. As of 2025, we are now exceeding seven.
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The Planetary Boundaries is a scientific framework that defines a “safe operating space for humanity”. It sets out the critical global environmental limits we need to stay within to avoid irreversible and catastrophic environmental change. As well as climate change and carbon emissions, it incorporates forest systems, biodiversity, water use and water pollution, synthetic waste, the ozone layer, and air pollution.
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However, the Planetary Boundaries do not make sense at the scales we make decisions. They quantify the extent and urgency of our global environmental crises, but do not answer the important question of what we should do about it.
TRANSLATING THE BOUNDARIES
From the Planetary Boundaries to Planetary Accounting Limits.
Credit: Azote for Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University. Based on Sakschewski and Caesar et al. 2025
The Planetary Quotas complement rather than replace the Planetary Boundaries. The Planetary Boundaries can be seen as a health check for the planet - they give us a sense of the magnitude and urgency of the situation.
The Planetary Quotas translate these boundaries, and answer the very important question: “What can you do to help?” You as a person, you as an employee, you as a city government, you as a CEO.
Planetary Accounting looks at the way human activity impacts the hau (air), whenua (land), wai (water). It considers oranga (life) across all three.
THE PLANETARY QUOTAS
Our Ten Global Limits
take a deep dive INTO THE LIMITS
AIR | HAU
Carbon+
Emissions & uptake of carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases from fossil sources and refrigerants.
CO2 is a greenhouse gas which means it traps heat into the atmosphere. It is released when we burn fossil fuels or organic matter and when we make concrete. Some CO2 (20 – 35% of what is emitted) remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of thousands of years.
AIR | HAU
Air Quality
Emissions or generation of aerosols / small particles or precursor gases (such as Sulphur dioxide).
Aerosols are small particles in the air, causing smog and acid rain. They are extremely harmful to human health. A limit for aerosols can be thought of as a minimum air quality standard.
WATER - WAI
Phosphorus
Phosphorus applied to land or runoff to waterways.
Phosphorus is necessary to grow food. It is present in animal and plant matter. Most of the phosphorus used in agriculture is mined from phosphate rock which causes local environmental damage. Phosphorus, like nitrogen, can run-off into waterways and cause algal blooms.
WATER - WAI
Water
Water consumption (direct and indirect) & contamination
The water we consume directly from the tap is a very small fraction of our total water consumption. Most has been used or contaminated in the production of goods and services.
LAND | WHENUA
Biodiversity
Species loss from land-use, land-use change, and ecotoxicity
Human activity affects biodiversity through habitat disruption and the release of chemicals to the environment. We estimate biodiversity loss from occupying or converting land types, and from ecotoxicity impacts, expressed as the percentage of species likely to disappear.
AIR | HAU
Biogenic Greenhouse Gases
Non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions from living organisms.
Methane and nitrous oxide are two other “long-lived” greenhouse gases which means that they stay in the atmosphere – warming it up – for a long time (tens to hundreds of years). Both are predominantly produced during agricultural processes.
AIR | HAU
Ozone
Emissions of ozone depleting substances (e.g. CFCs).
Ozone depleting substances such as CFCs created a hole in the Earth’s ozone layer, the layer which protects us from the most harmful types of UV rays. The Montreal Protocol is a global agreement to stop emitting (most) ozone depleting substances.
WATER - WAI
Nitrogen
Nitrogen applied to land or runoff to waterways.
Reactive nitrogen is a necessary component to grow food. It occurs naturally in animal and plant matter and can also be produced synthetically. However, the overuse of nitrogen fertilisers has led to run off into water ways which can cause algal blooms.
LAND | WHENUA
Waste
Imperishable & unrecycled waste.
Humans have created hundreds of thousands of “novel entities", which are things that would not occur naturally without human intervention. These do not typically undergo rigorous testing, and the impacts of such things are often only discovered much later.
LAND | WHENUA
Forestland
Area of deforestation (or reforestation).
The amount of forestland on the planet is critical to the health of the planet - because forests absorb CO2, and because they provide important habitat for a large percentage of the world’s species. The quota shows how much land must be reforested each year to return to safety this century.
Applications of planetary accounting
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planetary fACTS
Planetary Facts were inspired by Nutrition Facts which communicate nutritional data such as protein, fat, and carbohydrates consistently, enabling comparison between products, and in the context of a recommended daily intake for good health. Underpinned by a scientifically peer reviewed framework, Planetary Facts communicate critical environmental data such as carbon, water, and biodiversity across hau (air), whenua (land), wai (water) and oranga (life) in the context of recommended environmental limits for a healthy planet.
PLANETARY ACCOUNTING FOR ORGANISATIONS
Whether you want light-touch support to become less carbon-centric in your sustainability efforts or you need rigorously derived science-aligned targets across all of the Planetary Boundaries, our Planetary Accounting for Organisations toolkit helps companies assess material environmental impacts, set targets, identify high impact opportunities, evaluate and communicate performance, and develop roadmaps to achieve your goals.
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