2 System Shifts
I. Planetary Boundaries: When Earth's Vital Signs Demand Response 🌍
The latest climate science review reveals a stark reality: seven of nine planetary boundaries have now been exceeded. The "Planetary Health Check 2025," released by the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, confirms that several of Earth's life-supporting systems risk crossing critical thresholds.
For the first time, ocean acidification has breached its safe boundary. Since the industrial era began, the ocean's surface pH has fallen with a 30-40% increase in acidity, pushing marine ecosystems beyond safe limits. Cold-water corals, tropical reefs, and Arctic marine life face mounting risks, whilst tiny pteropods, crucial food sources for countless species, show signs of shell damage.
The seven breached boundaries span climate change, biosphere integrity, land system change, freshwater use, biogeochemical flows, novel entities, and ocean acidification — all showing worsening trends. Only ozone depletion and aerosol loading remain within safe zones, offering crucial proof that reversal is possible.
"We are witnessing widespread decline in the health of our planet. But this is not an inevitable outcome," said Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute. "Even if the diagnosis is dire, the window of cure is still open. Failure is not inevitable; failure is a choice.A choice that must and can be avoided"
The framework is moving from scientific concept to practical action. Amsterdam has adopted the "doughnut model" at city level to guide strategies towards ecological sustainability. Companies are experimenting with science-based targets for nature, whilst financial frameworks like the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures push investors to account for planetary dependencies.
The Shift: Earth's vital signs are measured with scientific precision, transforming planetary boundaries from abstract thresholds into actionable frameworks. When cities, companies, and financial systems align with biophysical reality, the possibility of reversal is still possible to drive widespread healing. 🌊🌿
II. Doughnut Economics 3.0: When Data Reveals the Path Beyond Growth 🍩
A landmark study published in Nature presents a comprehensive assessment of humanity's trajectory, tracking 35 indicators of social wellbeing and ecological health from 2000 to 2022. The renewed Doughnut Economics framework reveals both the scale of transformation needed and stark inequalities shaping our collective future.
Whilst global GDP more than doubled over this period, the story beneath tells a different truth. Inequalities and ecological overshoot intensified. The richest 20% of nations, home to 15% of the global population, contribute more than 40% of annual ecological overshoot. While the poorest 40% of countries, representing 42% of humanity, experience over 60% of global social shortfall whilst contributing minimally to planetary degradation.
The researchers observe this "reaffirms the case for overcoming the dependence of nations on perpetual GDP growth and reorienting towards regenerative and distributive economic activity that assigns priority to human needs and planetary integrity."
Over 50 city and district governments worldwide have begun embedding the Doughnut in local strategies since 2019, making invisible connections visible and revealing pathways where prosperity and planetary health become inseparable.
The Shift: Economic progress is being redefined from perpetual growth to meeting human needs within planetary means. When we measure what truly matters, new trajectories emerge where human flourishing and ecological regeneration advance together. 🌱💚
What if knowing our planetary limits becomes the compass for our flourishing, turning boundaries into pathways and data into wisdom? 🌱
3 Field Stories
I. Brazil: Where AI and Satellite Data Restore Atlantic Forest at Scale 🌳
In Brazil's Atlantic Forest, reduced to less than 12% of its original size, economic incentives have long favoured destruction over restoration. Re:green discovered a reversal opportunity: what if protecting forests could become financially viable through intelligent restoration at scale?
Founded in 2021, re:green combines AI, drones and satellite imagery with ecological data to identify degraded land with restoration potential. Tailored plans restore each site with diverse native species, generating revenue through carbon credits and sustainable timber. The approach creates what CEO Thiago Picolo calls rebuilding "nature itself as vital infrastructure for our future, infrastructure that delivers commercial returns alongside community benefits."
Working with partner nurseries across Brazil, including Bioflora which re:green acquired in 2021, the company has planted millions of seedlings across four Brazilian states, with thousands of hectares under active restoration. The model has created hundreds of jobs, trained hundreds of people, and attracted major investors including Nestlé and Microsoft.
The Impact: As this year’s Earthshot Prize Finalist, re:green demonstrates restoration competing economically with destruction. So far, re.green has planted more than six million seedlings, 4.4 million in 2024 alone, and is aiming for 65 million by 2032. By aiming to restore one million hectares and capture millions of tonnes of CO₂ annually, they're proving smart forestry serves biodiversity, climate, and communities simultaneously. 🌿
II. Thailand: Where Biological Systems Tackle Low-Carbon Protein Challenge 🐟
In Thailand's aquaculture regions, where farmers seek affordable alternatives to fishmeal, Full Circle Biotechnology discovered opportunity in what others discard: Cassava pulp from tapioca factories and other food and beverage byproducts, turned feedstock for production of protein through biological innovation.
Full Circle’s protein meal is distinct, combining black soldier fly larvae with microbial protein through solid state fermentation. The protein meal is then turned into pellets and distributed to farmers across Thailand, reducing feed costs, improving animal health and yields, all while significantly reducing carbon footprint as an ultra-low carbon animal feed. With fresh funding from investors, Full Circle is building a 7,000-tonne facility in Kanchanaburi, with the entire capacity reserved by existing customers who are farmers across Thailand.
The Impact: Full Circle demonstrates how organic waste becomes circular nutrition through biological innovation. By converting agricultural and food byproducts into protein that competes with fishmeal on both quality and cost, they are proving regenerative food systems can serve farmers economically whilst reducing carbon footprint simultaneously. 🌱
III. Sri Lanka: Where Sea Moss Empowers Fishing Communities 🌊
In Sri Lanka's Northern Province, a 24-year-old Sri Lankan innovator discovered opportunity in overlooked waters. Red seaweed growing off Jaffna and Mannar coasts held double value: exceptional nutrition and climate solutions. Seaweed farming offers fishing communities what has long been missing: steady income whilst healing oceans.
Seashore Garden works directly with fishing communities, 90% women-led, cultivating sea moss through 50-day cycles. The seaweed captures CO2 as it grows, combating ocean acidification whilst its carrageenan, a natural carbohydrate, becomes dried sea moss and edible products. These nutrient-rich offerings contain 20-90% less sugar than conventional alternatives, adaptable across diverse food applications, including sea moss healthy beverages.
The Impact: Recognised with the Impact Award at Venture Engine 2025, Seashore Garden proves regenerative aquaculture can compete in modern markets. With women leading and direct-to-farmer models in the Northern Province, they are demonstrating how overlooked marine resources become pathways for dignified livelihoods, where businesses measure success through both prosperity and purpose. 🌿
Emerging Pattern
From Thailand's waste becoming low-carbon protein, to Sri Lanka's seaweed empowering women-led communities, to Brazil's degraded lands restored through AI-guided intelligence, a pattern crystallises: transformation accelerates when technology amplifies nature's systems whilst economic models reward regeneration. What markets once dismissed as waste becomes pathways for prosperity when innovation serves ecological wisdom, proving planetary healing and economic prosperity can advance together. ✨
1 Mindful Moment
Dance with the waves, move with the sea, let the rhythm of the water set your soul free.
"You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." — Dr. Jane Goodall
Jane spent her life in quiet observation, sitting with chimpanzees until the forest revealed its secrets. She showed us that transformation begins not with grand gestures, but with deep attention: to a hand reaching across species, to eyes that mirror our own, to the intelligence alive in every being. In remembrance of Dr. Jane Goodall 🕊️
One invitation: This week, practice Jane's gift of patient presence. Sit with a tree, watch a bird, observe an insect. Let yourself be still enough to witness the world's aliveness. Notice what shifts when you move from doing to being, from rushing to receiving. What does the living world teach you when you simply pay attention? 🌿