10 Emerging Technology Solutions for Planetary Health 2025

With humans putting continued pressure on our natural systems, we are seeing critical Earth processes that regulate the stability and resilience of our planet pushed beyond safe limits. The planetary boundaries framework is a scientific analysis of the stability of Earth’s natural systems, offering a clear understanding of the interrelated Earth processes that underpin life and keep our planet healthy. When acting within the safe operating space, these systems are in balance and provide the stable conditions necessary for human development and well-being. As of 2025, however, seven of the nine planetary boundaries have been breached, with greenhouse gas concentrations rising, synthetic chemicals released into nature, overuse of nutrients, shifts in freshwater, deforestation, ocean acidity and biodiversity all reaching levels that are unsustainable for our planet and will have reverberating negative impacts that we cannot fully predict yet. Addressing these transgressions calls for a deliberate and swift collective response. By designing policies that prioritize planetary health and mitigate destructive human imprint on our planet and by evolving our business models to account for environmental limits, we can chart a path back towards a safe operating space for humanity, which is a necessary (but far from sufficient) condition for justice.Advancements in technology have a crucial role to play in efforts to transform the world economy back within the safe operating space of planetary boundaries. They can substitute planet-damaging technologies (such as transitioning away from fossil-fuel-based energy and moving to green electric solutions), enable more effective monitoring of environmental changes, mitigate damaging impacts and have the potential to help restore the integrity of some of our planet’s vital systems. The technologies in this report offer promising tools as part of the broader transformation needed to move back towards a safe operating space within planetary boundaries. From breakthroughs in clean energy and resource efficiency to innovations in materials, agriculture and ecosystem restoration, these solutions have the potential to address and mitigate key drivers of planetary boundary transgressions. While relying on emerging technologies instead of using well- tested and scalable established options would certainly not be a wise choice, and while no single technology can solve the complex challenges we face, emerging technologies do offer, collectively, a contribution to new pathways for interacting with our planet in a way that is mindful of its limits. By supporting the responsible deployment of these technologies, we can help accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable and balanced relationship with our planet.10 Emerging Technology Solutions for Planetary HealthOctober 2025 Foreword Johan Rockstrom Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) 10 Emerging Technology Solutions for Planetary Health 3