Planetary boundaries, territorial planning tools and resilience : Case study on South-Loire’s territorial planning scheme (France)
Abstract
Planetary boundaries (PB) provides a good framework for understanding and awareness-raising of ecological issues on a global scale. Taking note that local decisions generate the environmental impacts and pressures that contribute to crossing PBs, there are some research and operational issues in downscaling the « PB thinking » to local decision-making levels. What approach could be used to assess the “resilience” to which territorial planning scheme (TPS) contribute in front of exceeding PBs? A case study on a South-Loire (France)’s TPS is presented. A qualitative analysis of the mechanisms and interactions was carried out from two perspectives: (1) the PBs’ threshold crossing effects on the South-Loire territory (risks), and (2) the projected effects of the TPS on the PBs (impacts and pressures). The action plans were qualitatively assessed in terms of their (direct or indirect) influence on the PBs with a DPSIR-type method. In parallel, the action plans are assigned to different resilience criteria. Around 42% of the action intentions do not explicitly address the PBs. Almost 30% directly target Climate change and 15% the Land use change PB. Beyond this explicit reading, the description of the implicit effects allows us to reveal causal links (positive or negative) to other PBs. We then show how action plans aimed at either absorptive resilience, adaptive resilience or, more rarely, transformative resilience. A new systemic cross-reading grid and a qualitative diagnosis are thus proposed to assess territorial planning tools in the light of planetary boundaries and different kinds of “resilience”.