3 December 2025

1:30 PM – 2:15 PM

Salle Proudhon

Thierry Brugvin

Thierry Brugvin is an associate professor at the UFR STGI in Belfort and holds a PhD in sociology. A member of CREGO (Bourgogne-Franche-Comté) and the Logiques de l’Agir laboratory (Besançon), he has been teaching sociology at the university for some 20 years. Specializing in social ecology, he published Effondrement : 20 scénarios (Collapse: 20 scenarios) with Éditions Yves Michel in 2024. His scientific work includes 39 publications, including six individual books, one edited book, 18 contributions to collective works, and 13 articles in national and international peer-reviewed journals. He has participated in 49 scientific conferences, including 20 international ones. At the same time, he has written more than 60 popular articles and given more than 50 lectures, particularly to associations, to disseminate his work to a wide audience.

What limits must be respected to preserve a viable planet?

The biosphere faces a serious risk of collapse due to global warming, ecosystem disruption, and the exceeding of planetary ecological limits. According to the WWF, of the nine boundaries that must not be crossed to maintain a sustainable balance, six have already been exceeded. Global warming is leading to water scarcity, lower agricultural yields and therefore an increased risk of mass famines, making climate change the most pressing threat to humanity. Furthermore, the majority of non-renewable resources will be depleted between 2040 and 2090: oil could disappear as early as 2050, natural gas around 2070 and coal around 2160, while iron reserves are expected to be exhausted by 2090. In this context, it is essential to limit our ecological and carbon footprints, both globally and individually, in order to ensure the survival of as many people as possible. Several ecological scenarios have been proposed for the future of humanity, including those of the IPCC, ADEME, the Meadows report, and six other models articulating technological and ecological challenges.