Global Commons Alliance

The Science Based Targets Network is a key component of the Global Commons Alliance, a growing coalition of scientists, philanthropists, civil society groups, businesses and innovators, enabling collective action to safeguard the global commons.

The Global Commons Alliance’s mission is to mobilize citizens, companies, cities and countries to accelerate systems change, and become better guardians of the global commons.

Scientific rigor

As part of the Alliance, we work with the Earth Commission, a global team of leading natural and social scientists and expert working groups, pioneering a first of its kind scientific framework.  

This framework, which combines Earth system science with social science, has defined safe and just boundaries for people and the planet so we can avoid crossing irreversible tipping points, and attain a stable and resilient planet for humanity to thrive.

The findings underscore the urgent need for integrated action across all Earth’s vital systems, the injustice inherent in current world targets, and the need for just transformations.

This new science is helping inform the development of science-based targets for nature that companies and cities can adopt. It helps guide our understanding of biophysical and social thresholds relevant to target setting, and interconnections between targets and response options. 

The Earth Commission is hosted by Future Earth, the world’s largest network of sustainability scientists, in collaboration with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), and supported by a large number of scientific institutions.

Systemic shifts

Also through the Global Commons Alliance we collaborate with Earth HQ, an international strategic communications platform to protect and restore the global commons, and the Systems Change Lab, which monitors, learns from and mobilizes action toward the transformational shifts needed to protect both people and the planet.