2024: The Year of the Planetary Future

The year 2024 is all set to become a landmark in succession to 2023 and 2022 that witnessed summits on the Sustainable Development Goals (New York; September 18-19) and the Stockholm+50 Conference (Stockholm; June 2-3). During this year, as mandated by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 76/307 of September 8, 2022 (Modalities Resolution), another momentous Summit of the Future will be held in New York on September 22-23, 2024. Hence, the year will be cast in stone as the year of the Planetary Future. In continuation of the practice of special issues on significant thematic issues during the last four years (2020-2023), the EPL will provide a platform to a galaxy of scholars from around the world to address the global environmental problematique in the era of a planetary crisis that will decisively decide our common future on the Earth. We plan to publish specially invited cutting-edge scholarly articles in successive issues of the EPL vol. 54.

The first issue of 2024 comprises two articles that address global environmental discourses calling for a course correction in the current regulatory approach to address the climate change conundrum (B.H. Desai et al.) as well as the planetary boundaries narrative on the right to a healthy environment (A. Lähteenmäki-Uutela et al.). Both the discourses present ideational challenges for the scholars and the decision-makers. In view of their significance, the EPL, as a global scholarly journal, would seek to further build and focus on them in some of the future issues. We welcome contributions from around the world.

Three other articles seek to address issues of contemporary concern such as sustainable development and national integration (O. J. Olujobi et al.), blue carbon ecosystems (R. T. Vinata et al.) and carbon pricing policy(Y. Nurhayati et al.). These issues have been examined from national perspectives for countries such as Nigeria, Indonesia, Finland and Sweden. Still, they hold global relevance for policy, law and institutional governance.

The content of the EPL first issue of 2024 lays the basis for the special issue articles on the Planetary Future.

- Bharat H. Desai