Published 2025 – This paper reframes peace, inviting us to shift concepts and behaviours so people and ecosystems can thrive within Earth’s limits.
This paper introduces a bold new paradigm for peace in the Anthropocene. Planetary Peace for Human Security: Responses to Existential Risks in the Anthropocene redefines peace as more than the absence of war, proposing a regenerative model rooted in justice, sustainability and global cooperation.
What is planetary peace?
Planetary peace is a systemic framework that defines peace as the ability of people, communities and ecosystems to thrive within the Earth’s ecological limits.
The concept of peace is often associated with an end to bombing or with countries no longer producing weapons technology, but the authors warn that continuing to think about peace in this traditional sense is both inadequate and dangerous because it ignores the systemic threats that define our era. Rather than focusing only on preventing war, planetary peace calls for transforming the economic, political and cultural systems that drive today’s interconnected crises.
What are the challenges to implementing planetary peace?
The paper argues that the polycrisis humanity faces in the Anthropocene stems from post-war structures. These models, centred on militarism and domination, were designed for a world that no longer exists, creating several critical obstacles:
- Militarised security traps: Global military expenditure has reached an all-time high of $2.3 trillion, creating a “double bind” where escalation is seen as the only path to safety.
- The “Elysium” fantasy: A peculiar reaction among some elites to seek isolation in fortified bunkers or remote islands, mistakenly believing they can escape systemic planetary collapse.
- Technological dehumanisation: Advanced technologies and AI are increasingly used to reduce the “other” to mere blips on a screen, amplifying the darkest parts of human soul in our relationships.
- Siloed and outdated governance: International frameworks remain fragmented and dominated by the biases of the victors of the Second World War, failing to account for the emancipatory pathways of the Global Majority.
How can we implement planetary peace?
To change current models and move to a planetary peace vision, we must understand ideas such as intergenerational justice and embrace a stronger sense of community, making a fundamental shift in thinking essential.
- Shift to restorative economies: Move away from extractive growth and exploitative labour toward economic systems that live within Earth’s ecological limits.
- Adopt anticipatory governance: Develop the institutional capacity to work across silos and co-create long-term responses to existential risks like food and water insecurity.
- Empower intergenerational leadership: Recognise that the 50% of the population under 30 brings the moral urgency and innovation needed to lead the transition to “ecocivilisations”.
- Weave knowledge systems: Integrate modern scientific discoveries with the unitive wisdom of indigenous and traditional cultures to heal our sense of separation from nature.
About the authors
- Paul Shrivastava is Co-President of The Club of Rome and a visionary leader in the field of management and sustainability. He has published 17 books and over 100 articles in scholarly journals on sustainable management and crisis management.
- Carlos Álvarez Pereira is Secretary General of The Club of Rome and a senior professional combining more than 30 years of experience in research and innovation, entrepreneurship and business management.
- Laetitia Mairlot is the National Engagement Lead for Earth4All.
Download the paper
If you want to understand how we can redesign our future and avoid collapse to achieve planetary peace, this paper is your roadmap.
Download here Planetary Peace for Human Security: Responses to Existential Risks in the Anthropocene
Authors: Paul Shrivastava, Carlos Álvarez Pereira and Laetitia Mairlot
