Sixty Percent of Land Beyond Limits — What I Think Must Come First

When I read that scientists estimate roughly 60% of Earth’s land has been pushed beyond its safe ecological limits, a familiar mixture of grief and impatience wells up in me. This is not an abstract statistic to tuck behind headlines; it’s a moral ledger, a set of broken promises to future generations and to the living systems that sustain us. The finding — that humanity has already stretched many ecosystems past what they can safely deliver — is starkly reported in the recent analysis showing our safe terrestrial zones are vanishing fast Earth’s Safe Zones Are Vanishing Fast. It resonates with other work showing multiple planetary boundaries have been breached Most Planetary Boundaries Beyond ‘Safe and Just Limit’, Scientists Say.

I’ve been thinking about priorities: given the scale and speed of what we’re facing, what should we do first? My view is a blend of practical triage and moral clarity. We cannot do everything at once with equal force; we must pick the critical levers that buy us time, protect the most vulnerable, and restore system integrity.

Priority 1 — Rapid, deep emissions cuts now

This is obvious but it is worth saying plainly: slowing and reversing warming remains the foundation. Fossil fuel combustion is the primary stressor that amplifies droughts, fires, floods, and ecosystem collapse. Emissions reductions must be rapid and equitable — led by those who created the problem and financed in ways that enable developing nations to leapfrog dirty pathways.

Why first? Because without aggressive mitigation, every other investment — in adaptation, restoration, and social resilience — will be fighting a losing battle.

Priority 2 — Protect what remains, restore what we can

Sixty percent of land beyond safe limits is a call to protect the last functioning ecosystems and to restore degraded ones. Protecting intact forests, peatlands, and wetlands is often the lowest-cost climate and biodiversity action available. At the same time, the world will need enormous amounts of land for restoration and nature-based mitigation — studies estimate billions of hectares will be required to meet land-based climate pledges World Will Need 1bn Hectares to Implement Land-Based Climate Mitigation Pledges.

We must stop treating nature as an infinite service-provider. Restoration is not an optional nicety; it’s a strategic investment in the planetary infrastructure that keeps us alive.

Priority 3 — Reform food and land systems

Agriculture and land use are at the center of this crisis: they are both victims of and contributors to ecological overshoot. Shifting diets modestly, reducing food waste, and redesigning supply chains can dramatically reduce pressure on land. We have to diversify farming systems — agroecology, regenerative practices, mixed landscapes — that hold soil, water, and biodiversity together rather than tearing them apart.

Critically, reforms must protect smallholders and Indigenous stewards who already manage large swathes of resilient landscapes.

Priority 4 — Invest massively in adaptation and resilience, equitably

The science is blunt: impacts are already unequal. Vulnerable countries and communities — who did the least to cause this — bear the worst burdens. Urgent adaptation funding, capacity-building, and technology transfer are moral imperatives. This is not charity; it is enlightened self-interest. Building resilient coasts, water systems, early-warning networks, and socially inclusive safety nets reduces risks for everyone.

Priority 5 — Reimagine finance, governance, and accountability

Our institutions were not designed for planetary-scale, long-term stewardship. We need to rewrite incentives:

• Align finance with ecological limits — no more hidden subsidies that accelerate destruction.
• Use public procurement, carbon pricing, and regulation to shift markets.
• Scale transparent monitoring and third-party verification so commitments become measurable and enforceable.

This also means rethinking metrics of prosperity: GDP alone is a blunt instrument. We need indicators that reflect social well-being and ecological health.

Priority 6 — Center justice and agency

Solutions that ignore equity will fail. A just transition — one that guarantees livelihoods, protects rights, and respects Indigenous land tenure — is both ethical and pragmatic. People who feel excluded or threatened by policies will resist; those who are partners will help implement change.

A few practical threads that tie priorities together

• Build national and local land-use plans that integrate climate, biodiversity, and food security objectives.
• Protect Indigenous and community land rights; evidence shows these lands often have better ecological outcomes.
• Fund large-scale restoration where possible, but avoid using offsets as an excuse to continue emissions.
• Invest in clean energy and grids to reduce land pressure from fossil-fuel infrastructure while decarbonizing industry.
• Reform agricultural subsidies to reward regenerative practices, not short-term yield maximization.

A philosophical note — humility and stewardship

There is a practical logic to priorities, but there is also a moral posture we must adopt. For too long, we behaved as if we were outside nature, entitled to extract and reshape it. The science is teaching us a humbler lesson: we are embedded within planetary systems. Stewardship — the recognition that our prosperity depends on the health of others (plants, soils, microbes, oceans, and our neighbors) — must guide policy and personal choices.

I do not want to end on fatalism. The window is narrow but not closed. The studies that warn us — about breached boundaries and vanishing safe zones — are a gift: they pull back the curtain and compel action Earth’s Safe Zones Are Vanishing Fast Most Planetary Boundaries Beyond ‘Safe and Just Limit’, Scientists Say. We must respond with urgency, honesty, and solidarity.

If pressed to distill everything into one sentence: prioritize rapid emissions cuts and protect and restore natural systems, while centering justice and dramatically reforming the financial and governance systems that got us here.

We are late, but we are not powerless.

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Regards,
Hemen Parekh