In 2000, Swissnex was launched with a groundbreaking vision: to invent a new science diplomacy for the coming era. It was the turn of the millennium, a period marked by rapid globalization, the explosion of digital communications, and a widespread belief in the potential of science and technology to foster democracy and prosperity. A quarter century later, Swissnex is evolving in a new international context that faces challenges of planetary scope and scale. Science has revealed the extent to which human activities have interfered with the Earth system, as evidenced by problems such as rapid climate change, extreme weather events, collapsing biodiversity, microplastic pollution, ocean acidification, multispecies pandemics, freshwater depletion, and space debris.

Our response to this new age is what we call “planetary diplomacy,” an experimental concept promoted through Planetary Embassy and other initiatives across the global Swissnex network. It begins with a simple question: if keeping Earth habitable is the defining challenge of our time, how can diplomacy evolve to engage with the many forces actively shaping our planet? Inspired by a growing intellectual movement challenging the human-centric character of our most influential traditions of thought, we propose to explore a diplomacy that recognizes the interests and agency of other living, nonliving, and technological constituents of planetary life, and that aims to recalibrate our relationship with this more-than-human world. What new forms of representation, dialogue, and negotiation might emerge from such a paradigm shift?

Rather than offering definitive answers, planetary diplomacy is an invitation to rethink how humans relate to other kinds of Earth-shaping agency, from animals, rivers, and forests to ocean currents, atmospheric processes, and planet-scale AI agents. Our intention is to open new imaginaries for coexistence, asking how diplomacy might evolve to include more than just human interests and promote balance between our species and what sustains life on our planet.