Outside the Safe Operating Space of the Planetary

Boundary for Novel Entities

Supplemental Information

Linn Persson*a, Bethanie M. Carney Almrothb, Christopher D. Collinsc, Sarah Cornelld, Cynthia A. de

Wite, Miriam L. Diamondf, Peter Fantkeg, Martin Hassellövh, Matthew MacLeode, Morten W. Rybergg,

Peter Søgaard Jørgensendi, Patricia Villarrubia-Gómezd, Zhanyun Wangj and Michael Zwicky

Hauschildg

a Stockholm Environment Institute, Linnégatan 87D, Box 24218, 104 51 Stockholm, Sweden
b Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 465, 405 30
Gothenburg, Sweden
cDepartment of Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, PO Box 217, Reading,
Berkshire, RG6 6AH, United Kingdom
d Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
e Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Department of Earth Sciences; and School of the Environment, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
f

M5S 3B1
g QuantitativeSustainability Assessment, Department of Technology, Management and Economics,
Technical University of Denmark, Produktionstorvet 424, 2800, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
h Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 100, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
I GlobalEconomic Dynamics and the Biosphere, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Lilla Frescativägen
4A, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
j Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland

* Corresponding author: Linn Persson, linn.persson@ssnc.se, +46-707176630. Since August 2021 at

the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, SSNC, Box 4625, 116 91 Stockholm, and Affiliated
Researcher at Stockholm Environment Institute.

1
Table of Contents
Figure S1. Global chemical industry production capacity, million tonnes per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 27. 3
Figure S2. Global production capacity of Ethylene, kg per capita, per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 45. 3
Figure S3. Global production capacity of propylene, kg per capitay, per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 45. 4
Figure S4. Global production capacity of butadiene, kg per capita, per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 45. 4
Figure S5. Global production capacity of benzene, kg per capita, per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 45. 5
Figure S6. Global production capacity of toluene, kg per capita, per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 45. 5
Figure S7. Global production capacity of xylene, kg per capita, per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 45. 6
Figure S8. Global Production of pesticides, million kg of active ingredients per year. United
Nations Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative
Solutions; Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 46. 6
Figure S9. Global plastics production, million tonnes per year. Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R., & Law, K.
L. (2017). Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Science Advances, 3(7), e1700782.
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700782 7
Figure S10. Global antibiotics production, number of defined daily doses per year. Jørgensen, P.
S., C. Folke, P. J. G. G. Henriksson, K. Malmros, M. Troell, A. Zorzet, and L. with R. Project. 2020.
Coevolutionary Governance of Antibiotic and Pesticide Resistance. Trends in Ecology and
Evolution 35(6):484–494. 7
References 8

2
 a) Global chemical industry production capacity
2500
Million tonnes

2000

1500

1000

500

0
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Year

Figure S1. Global chemical industry production capacity, million tonnes per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 27.

b) Ethylene global production capacity

25
kg per capita

20

15

10

0
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Year

Figure S2. Global production capacity of Ethylene, kg per capita, per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 45.

3
 c) Propylene global production capacity
20
kg per capita

16

12

0
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Year

Figure S3. Global production capacity of propylene, kg per capitay, per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 45.

d) Butadiene global production capacity

2.5
kg per capita

1.5

0.5

0
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Year

Figure S4. Global production capacity of butadiene, kg per capita, per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 45.

4
 e) Benzene global production capacity
10
kg per capita

0
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Year

Figure S5. Global production capacity of benzene, kg per capita, per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 45.

f) Toluene global production capacity

6

5
kg per capita

0
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Year

Figure S6. Global production capacity of toluene, kg per capita, per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 45.

5
 g) Xylene global production capacity
12

10
kg per capita

0
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Year

Figure S7. Global production capacity of xylene, kg per capita, per year. United Nations
Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions;
Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 45.

h) Global production of pesticide active ingredients

3500
3000
Million kg

2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Year

Figure S8. Global Production of pesticides, million kg of active ingredients per year. United
Nations Environment Programme. Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative
Solutions; Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. p. 46.

6
 i) Global plastics production
450
400
Million tonnes

350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
Year

Figure S9. Global plastics production, million tonnes per year. Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R., & Law, K.
L. (2017). Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Science Advances, 3(7), e1700782.
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700782

j) Global antibiotics production

Billion defined daily doses

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
Year

Figure S10. Global antibiotics production, number of defined daily doses per year. Jørgensen, P.
S., C. Folke, P. J. G. G. Henriksson, K. Malmros, M. Troell, A. Zorzet, and L. with R. Project. 2020.
Coevolutionary Governance of Antibiotic and Pesticide Resistance. Trends in Ecology and
Evolution 35(6):484–494.

7
References
Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R., & Law, K. L. (2017). Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made.
Science Advances, 3(7), e1700782. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700782
Global Chemicals Outlook II - From Legacies to Innovative Solutions; Nairobi, Kenya, 2019. United
Nations Environment Programme.
Jørgensen, P. S., C. Folke, P. J. G. G. Henriksson, K. Malmros, M. Troell, A. Zorzet, and L. with R.
Project. 2020. Coevolutionary Governance of Antibiotic and Pesticide Resistance. Trends in
Ecology and Evolution 35(6):484–494.