Pushing Planetary Boundaries - Ep49: Johan Rockström

Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

Johan Rockström is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam.

He is an internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability issues, most known for developing the Planetary Boundaries framework for human development. Professor Rockström is a leading scientist on global water resources, with more than 25 years’ experience in applied water research in tropical regions, and more than 150 research publications in fields ranging from applied land and water management to global sustainability.

Apart from that, Professor Rockström is a member of European Commission expert group: Mission Board for adaptation to climate change including societal transformation, chair of the Earth Commission and an elected member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Between 2004 and 2012 he led the Stockholm Environment Institute, in 2007 he co-founded the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

Professor Rockström wrote not just scientific papers: together with Sir David Attenborough he’s working on a Netflix series ‘Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet’ but also co-authored a cookbook with recipes healthy for people and the planet.

Further reading:

Official Bio https://www.pik-potsdam.de/members/johanro

TED Talk “10 years to transform the future of humanity or destabilize the planet” (October 2020) https://www.ted.com/talks/johan\_rockstrom\_10\_years\_to\_transform\_the\_future\_of\_humanity\_or\_destabilize\_the\_planet

Johan Rockström: ‘We need bankers as well as activists… we have 10 years to cut emissions by half’ (May 2021) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/29/johan-rockstrom-interview-breaking-boundaries-attenborough-biden

Standing Up for a Sustainable World: Voices of Change (2020)

https://www.amazon.com/Standing-Up-Sustainable-World-Voices/dp/1800371799