Emerging Markets of the Anthropocene

Various earth system processes have different planetary boundaries, as stated by Steffen et al. (2015), which may have harmful, irreversible impacts, should they be exceeded. In the table below, the various boundaries to each process are illustrated.

  

The two key core planetary boundaries that are focused on are climate change and biosphere integrity. Climate change has a fundamental importance for earth systems as it affects them all. Biosphere integrity increases resilience to abrupt and gradual change from global processes such as climate change, and is thus of vital importance.  

Steffen et al. also note that the ‘anthropogenic perturbation levels’ of 4 of the earth system processes, already exceed the proposed planetary boundary. These are: climate change, biosphere integrity, biogeochemical flows, and land system change. Therefore, these processes are seen as priorities to focus policies on. Tom Bawden states that the nine threats to life on earth are: biodiversity loss, deforestation, climate change, eutrophication (nitrate/phosphate in water), ocean acidification, freshwater consumption, chemical pollution (e.g. plastics), aerosol pollution and stratospheric ozone depletion. These are key contemporary issues and are also seen as environmental priorities. 

New markets being invested in include alternative energy fuels such as solar power, nuclear power, wind power and geothermal energy. Though they all have their pros and cons, alternative energy sources are being increasingly invested in. There is also an increasing market for cars with lower carbon footprints and electric cars.  Carbon credits are also a dynamic market as a result of the Kyoto Protocol. There are also investments in innovative new methods and initiatives as part of climate intervention, otherwise known as Geoengineering.

For example, projects such as the SPICE project which aims to inject particles into the stratosphere as an attempt to manage and manipulate climate.  The project is now defunct, however there is a widening market for initiatives such as SPICE. However, even if geoengineering is successful to the extent that human activity has little effect on the earth systems, it is only a matter of time until we run out of resources, such as fossil fuels and fish. This has led to issues such as biodiversity loss, which has opened up new markets for fishery management, and driving up the price for certain fish species that are no longer in abundance. 

Whilst new markets may be emerging to combat climate change, I don’t believe any markets will fully disappear within the next decade. It is not in human nature to give up on a practice that harms the earth; instead, we tend to find new, innovative ways to continue to enjoy luxuries. Therefore, I believe markets will only emerge and develop here on, and we will see a growth in aggregate demand and thus the global economy.