Living Well, Within

(Planetary)
Limits

Dr Julia Steinberger
J.K.Steinberger@Leeds.ac.uk
Illustrations by Jacob S-P

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We’ve been observing outer space …
now it’s the aliens’ turn to observe us!

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A time machine for Jodrell Bank

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 What does a
“good life”
mean for
Earthlings?

Let’s ask an
academic …

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 Ask an academic!
What determines well-being?

Psychologist How we think!

Sociologist Our social surroundings!

Economist How much we can buy!

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 Is there anyone
else who has
thought about
this?

Why yes!
2’400 years ago, in
Ancient Greece …
350 BC

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 Well-Being
meAns Being ABle
to live A life As
fullY As possiBle
And flourish
Within one’s
soCietY.

Well-Being meAns
AChieving the
Aristotle, 350BC
most positive And
leAst negAtive
feelings possiBle.

epiCurus, 300BC 7
 the tWo CAmps
persist to this
dAY!
teAm teAm
epiCurus Aristotle

hAppiness flourishing

individuAl soCiAl

hAppiness indiCAtor humAn development

indeX, sustAinABle
eConomiC groWth: more development goAls
inCome =>
more Consumption => development: support
more positive feelings humAn potentiAl 8
 What is necessary
Well-being
(flourishing
for flourishing?
within society)

Physical
Mental Autonomy
Health
Health
Safe
Environ- Education
ment Friends &
Healthcare Family

Food & Economic

Water Security
Childhood
Security
Based on Doyal & Gough 9
 Earthling well-being
looks a bit like a
many-legged bug …

Hello! I’m the

Good Life Bug! I
need ALL my legs
to live a good life.

If even one of
them fails, I’m
in trouble. 10
What do you need to
keep your Good Life
legs going?

Resources from
the environment:
energy.

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Relationship between well-being
and energy use
EU
USA

Key Fact 1:
Emerging
economies Sufficiency
Developing countries

Energy use
Oil per person
Oil

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 ENERGY seems
quite important.
How much do you
use? Where does
it come from?

Going back 200

or so years …
1850
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 Around 1800, humans start running
1850 out of wood in the UK ...

Key Fact 2:
Since 1980,
Global Energy Use (ExaJoules)
Global Energy Assessment

80% of global
energy comes
from fossil fuels.

Oil

...but they find fossilized trees (coal)

underground. The industrial age starts. 14
 What does 200 years
of burning fossil
fuels look like in the
big picture of
Earthling history?

Let’s take the

time machine
and see…. 20’000 BC

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 Range in temperature:
20’000

The Holocene
BC

Human Civilisation:
A brief Duration in time

history of
climate and
human
civilisation

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 The Anthropocene
Presently …

heading
into the
unknown…

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 … and a lot
more
dangerous.
The Anthropocene
Presently …

heading
into the
unknown…

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 Uh-oh. That’s quite
scary. Can you see
any warming
happening right
now?

Going back to
the present …
2018
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 July 2018: All time heat records
set all over the world.

Washington Post 20
 Climate change is one of several
“Planetary Boundaries”
“Transgressing one or
more of the planetary
boundaries could lead
to catastrophic change
at the continental to
global scale.”
Source: Steffen et al. 2015, Science
347 (6223), 1259855.

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 Does well-being
connect to
planetary limits?

Yes, let me
show you…

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Country level results
UK Sri Lanka

O'Neill, D. et Al (2018).
Nature Sustainability.
http://goodlife.leeds.ac.uk 24
Where We
Need to Be Key Fact 3:
No country is both
environmentally
and socially
sustainable – not
even close.

O'Neill, D. et Al (2018).
Nature Sustainability.
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 How do we get
Earthlings to
achieve well-being
without damaging
the environment?
It’s not going
to be easy, but I
have a few
ideas…
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 The energy sufficient for
well-being goes down over time

Key Fact 4:
HUGE efficiency
Energy per person (GigaJoules)

in achieving
well-being.

Steinberger & Roberts (2010).

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Ecological Economics.
 Life expectancy Of which, only 3.4 Only $1’000 cannot be
linked to energy.
has increased by years can be explained
13 years by growth in energy.
internationally.

Key Fact 5:
Economic growth,
not well-being, is
Steinberger et al (2018) in preparation

tied to energy use.

Income has
Of which, $7’900
increased by can attributed to
Meaning 9.6 years can’t $8,900 per person growth in energy
be linked to energy. internationally. use. 28
 Economies trapped in high energy use?
The case of car dependency
1. Car
industry
Key Fact 6:
Living well
5. Car 2. Roads &
within limits culture parking
means facing
big & powerful Can
industries, and Earthlings
ways of life. 4. Neglect do it? Yes
3. Land use
public
transport
for cars you can!
Mattioli et al (2018) in
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preparation
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Ideas Evidence Action
• Doughnut Economics  IPCC reports POLITICAL
K. Raworth  Grist.org • Speak up! Insist.
• Human Earth  Vox.com • Join 350.org, CAN, PlanB
Maslin & Lewis  Kate Marvel
COMMUNITY & WORK
• Prosperity without  Gavin Schmidt
• Participate
Growth T. Jackson  Katharine Hayhoe
• Steer decisions & policies
• This Changes Everything  Eric Holthaus
 David Roberts (divestment, travel,
N. Klein purchasing, …)
• Heat, Greed & Human
Need I. Gough PERSONAL & FAMILY
• Eat plant-based food;
• Degrowth G. Kallis
• Stop driving & flying;
• Enough is Enough Dietz Future • Heat less, consume less;
& O’Neill • Insulation, induction hob;
• Renewable energy. 31
Extra Slides

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 Boundaries and thresholds
2018
Biophysical Indicators and their Boundaries
Biophysical Indicator Planetary Boundary Per Capita Boundary
CO2 Emissions 2 °C warming 1.61 t CO2 y-1
Social Indicators and their Thresholds Phosphorus 6.2 Tg P y-1 0.89 kg P y-1
Social Indicator Threshold Nitrogen 62 Tg N y-1 8.9 kg N y-1
Life Satisfaction 6.5 on 0–10 Cantril ladder scale Blue Water 4000 km3 y-1 574 m3 y-1
Healthy Life Expectancy 65 years eHANPP 18.2 Gt C y-1 2.62 t C y-1
Nutrition 2700 kcal per capita Ecological Footprint 1.72 gha y-1
Sanitation 95% of people have access to improved sanitation facilities Material Footprint 7.2 t y-1
Income 95% of people earn above $1.90 a day
Access to Energy 95% of people have electricity access
Education 95% enrolment in secondary school
Social Support 90% of people have friends or family they can depend on
Democracy 0.80 (approximate US/UK value)
Equality 70 on 0–100 scale (GINI index of 0.30)
Employment 94% employed (6% unemployment)

http://goodlife.leeds.ac.uk 33
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 UK
Costa Rica

China
USA
Russia

Sufficiency: past a certain

(low) level, increases in
India
energy use doesn’t lead to
increases in health.
South Africa

Nigeria
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 Heating and
Moving
cooling
people and
space and
things
food

We use But is there

energy another reason
for …
energy use is
growing and
growing?

Light

Running
Communication &
machines,
entertainment
making things 36
Energy fuels economic growth

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Do we really want growth?
• Economic growth counts
goods and bads equally;
• Wealth accumulation • Energy can also be
becomes more unequal used for good and bad;
with growth; • Wealthiest people overuse
• Dependence on growth energy while poor people
makes economies unstable are deprived;
(risk, crises); • Dependence on large
• Not clear the good things energy use makes societies
we want (health, vulnerable (crises);
employment, education …) • Not clear the good things
require growth. we want (health,
employment, education …)
require energy.
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NASA causes of climate change animation
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a030000/a030600/a030615/9_human_al
l_curves_1080p.mp4

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NASA: Gavin Schmidt & Kate Marvel, Amy Moran
 2016
I like these
I’m in goals!
them
too!

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