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Ecological Power of Nations EN Foreword When I was born in 1962, the world still had significant Like in the financial world, overspending can work, for If we want to realize the “right to develop” – and this ecological reserves. Residents of most of the world’s some time. The question is for how long, and at what is the motivation behind this publication – we must countries demanded less resources and emitted less costs. When adding up moderate projections of UN work with the budget of nature, not against it. Ignoring waste than their respective countries’ ecosystems could agencies for 2050, based on slow population growth, nature’s budget weakens us – makes it less likely that regenerate. Today, less than 20 percent of the world slight improvements of people’s diets, decarbonization we can secure human wellbeing. population lives in countries where this is still the case. of our energy systems, continued increase in agricultural productivity, human demand would be twice of what To succeed, and to make this success last, we need This assessment is based on Ecological Footprint Earth could provide. to reverse these trends. I am an unwavering optimist accounting, a balance sheet that compares how much and am convinced we can. Consider this: if the current nature we have to how much nature we use. Based Banking on this growing level of consumption is trends in biocapacity and Footprint were financial on about 5000 data points per country and year, all unrealistic. Demand would be too far out of sync with curves, every planner, economist or minister would from UN statistical sources, it documents our resource supply. Worse, the accumulated ecological debt from know what would need to be done. They would huddle balance. The results for 2005: human demand on decades of ecological overspending cannot be fed and identify an aggressive agenda for action. Nothing the biosphere exceeds by 30 percent what Earth can indefinitely by depleting our planet. There just are not less is required with our current resource trends. After renew. In other words, it takes a year and four months that many fisheries to overharvest, atmospheres to fill all, money can be printed, but resources cannot. to regenerate what humanity uses within that one year. up with CO2, or forests to deforest. Mathis Wackernagel The Ecological Power of Nations 1 Purpose of this publication This work is based in part on statistical information that nations work together to best manage ecological assets so countries provide to the United Nations Food and Agricul- that those assets are not depleted or degraded, but rather, ture Organization (UN FAO), the UN Development Program can continue to meet human demands as well as maintain (UNDP) and other international agencies. It is presented a healthy biodiversity? here in a way that shows the demand the human commu- nity is putting on the Earth’s ecological assets. The relation- The data presented in this publication is intended as a ship between this demand and the availability of natural means to enhance the understanding of the extent, use capital to satisfy it is shown both globally and for individual and distribution of ecological assets, and their relation- nations. ship to human wellbeing. This provides an objective and measurable starting point for politicians, decision makers, The purpose of this publication is to provide data rather opinion leaders and citizens to address the sustainability than policy recommendations, and to open a creative challenge—how to live well, while living within the means debate over the implications of living in a resource-con- of the planet. This challenge is perhaps the key issue of the strained world. Statistics show that the human community 21st century, and how it is resolved will likely determine the is using the Earth’s living resources faster than the planet is fate of humanity and the rest of the Earth’s species. able to regenerate them. This publication is intended as a starting point for discussion to raise awareness of the vari- We invite all countries and organizations to participate in ous risks and opportunities for individual countries created this debate, and to explore the implications of the Ecologi- Earth, our home planet is the only planet in our so- lar system known to harbor life and life of incredible by this resource imbalance by asking such questions as: cal Footprint and biocapacity data for national programs, diversity. The view from space enables us to better for valuation of ecological services, and for international understand how thin and fragile is the Earth’s atmo- • What does this global deficit mean to those countries that agreements such as those designed to protect biodiversity. sphere, how it protects us from the uninhabitable void and why we need to protect it. use less biological capacity than they have available? In particular, this data provides an important perspective for shaping and evaluating post-Kyoto and other initiatives The presence of the Moon stabilizes the Earth’s wob- • What does it mean for those who are in ecological deficit? related to the emission and capture of carbon dioxide gen- ble thereby making the climate more stable in billions of years of influence. The regular daily and monthly erated by the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. In a rhythms of Earth’s only natural satellite, the Moon, • What are the political, economic, social and strategic im- world of “peak everything;” food, water, climate, soil and have guided timekeepers for thousands of years. Its plications of the fact that eight countries control more than energy, this perspective given current ecological reality can influence on the Earth’s cycles, notably the tides, has also been charted by many cultures throughout many half the planet’s biological capacity? help in the evaluation of proposed solutions to see if they ages. More than 70 spacecraft have been sent to the are sufficient and will result in an absolute reduction in hu- Moon; 12 astronauts have walked upon its surface • If the wellbeing of all is a manity’s ecological overshoot rather than just transferring and brought back 842 pounds of lunar rock and soil to Earth. This color-coded image shows the Moon’s desirable goal, how can pressure from one type of ecosystem to another. mineral composition and barren soil. 2 Introduction Recent and ongoing news – from the economy to the available and where they are being used. This gives environment – make it clear: The world is changing, us a new way to see the world and provides the foun- and we cannot continue to ignore the importance of dation for a new chapter of global collaboration with ecological assets. With an expanding population and a view to share the ecological assets, without their an economy that has already crossed many global lim- depletion or degradation. its, now more than ever it is essential to recognize that the health and wellbeing of the human community de- Throughout this publication, you will see demonstrated pends on the health and wellbeing of the Earth’s eco- the growing need for nations to recognize the value of systems. their own natural resources as well as the need to find a way for humanity to live well, within the means of our The world is changing not only with regard to growing planet. You will also learn more about the the Ecologi- resource scarcity, but also in the way we are becom- cal Footprint - the metric tool that calculates human ing increasingly more interconnected and interdepen- pressure on the planet, and about a new way of look- dent. The global economy and the internet are only a ing at nations, from the perspective of natural capital, part of the reason for this change. Today, we can track questioning whether or not nations have enough natu- the flow of resources around the world in an account- ral capital to supply their own consumption or are they All forms of life on the planet coexist within a thin surface lay- ing system that shows where ecological assets are operating in ecological deficit. er 40 miles thick, the biosphere. This layer extends from the depths of the oceans to the stratosphere and it is here where all living creatures interact with chemical processes and the energy from the sun to sustain life. Picture taken by the Gemini 9 tripulation on July 5, 1966. NASA The Ecological Power of Nations 3 F • EQ P • YF F Q EF= • E YN F • Y _ FE A E = The Earth’s biosphere absorbs the energy from the sun and tive systems that are often unpredictable. Air, water, land, stand. Photo of anvils over the Pacific Ocean. NASA, July C FI from within its thin, fragile layer, it supplies everything we and life - including human life - combine forces to create 21, 2003. B E need to survive. The Earth is made up of complex, interac- a constantly changing world that we are striving to under- + BCP 4 The Ecological Power of Nations F = E C We’re going to have to think of ourselves as a subsystem, part of the natural world and that we depend upon it in two ways: we’ll have to take from the natural world resources at a rate at which the naturalF world can regenerate and we’ll have to throw back the wastes • EQ from using those natural resources at a rate the natural world can assimilate P • YF F Q Herman Daly. EF= • E YN F F • AY _ E E = BC EFI + BCP F = The Ecological Power of Nations 5 E C 6 The Ecological Power of Nations The Earth’s ecological limits While economies, populations and resource demands stocks and allowing carbon to concentrate in the at- grow, the size of the planet remains the same.
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