Business within the planetary boundaries

Multiple transformations are happening in the operating environment. We are now facing an alarming and accelerating changes in biodiversity, global warming, climate change and pollution that are threatening the life on Earth. Which are disrupting ecosystems, societies, industries and businesses.

The brutal fact is that nature’s carrying capacity is weakening.

• The Ocean has absorbed 90% of human caused warming and has started to warm alarmingly fast up to 2000m deep impacting on the marine ecosystems and coral reefs.
• Earth’s water cycle is changing, which is creating unknown results, such as shrinking cloud cover, and increasing droughts and floods.
• We are also facing globally more extreme storms and wildfires.
• The biodiversity loss is spreading and soil health is declining, and already today, food and water security is an issue in different locations around the world.
• On top of this, the chemical and plastic pollution is widespread, influencing increasingly on ecosystem and human health issues.

All these phenomenons are connected.

Human activity has endangered Earth’s critical and interlinked biophysical processes called the Planetary boundaries that regulate the stability and resilience of the planet. In 2025 already seven our of nine planetary boundaries had crossed the limit of the safe operating space. But this data has not been visible in the current business metrics or targets.

When we look the economic aspect of the transformation, finance and insurance sectors have already calculated that inaction to solve the planetary crisis is and will be more expensive than mitigation and transition efforts. For example, an estimated 50% of the global GDP is directly dependent on nature which will feel instant effects. Still, 100% of life is dependent on nature – the planetary crisis is disrupting industries worldwide.

We have looked nature as an unlimited resource, undervaluing its foundational role for supporting all life.

Now the question is not if something will happen, but how much do we try to lead and design the transformation. While it is important to learn to navigate with the risks, we also need to lead towards opportunities and prosperity.

At Matter, we think that business leaders and employees are one of the key actors in driving the change by creating the solutions that the world really needs. 

We think that the sustainability transition is full of opportunities, for example:

1. Wise and efficient use of resources in circular economy will generate new businesses, innovations, services.
2. Visionary leadership and transformative innovations will form new business ecosystems and value networks.
3. Nature based solutions, NatureTech, NatureData with right AI can boost the transition.
4. Regenerative organisations will increase the ability for fast learning, innovation and resilience in change.
5. Solutions that solve carbon capture, biodiversity, pollution and biochemical flow issues.
6. Solutions that curate sustainable and healthy behaviours and lifestyles, such as healthy nutrition from sustainable food systems.
7. New services that halt loss of nature by scaling regeneration and restoration of ecosystems, such as marine, soils, forests and wetlands.
8. Cities and bioregions as living labs for transformations.

To thrive within the planetary boundaries demands long-term thinking and a change in the world views, logic, operations and behaviours.

Sustainability is becoming an integral element in life and business – transforming us. In the end, this transformation is a lot about humans. How we will organise our strategies, organisations, business operations, collaborate and create value with our networks, and curate life within the planetary boundaries with our products and services.

When we get it right, we will create more resilient and thriving businesses with long-term purpose and prosperity.

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