The Ecological Footprint

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Ecological Footprint The Ecological Footprint The only metric that measures how much nature we have and how much nature we use Adapted from “Footprint Network.” Global Footprint Network, www.footprintnetwork.org/. The Ecological Footprint measures the demand on and supply of nature. The demand is how fast we consume resources and create waste (especially carbon emissions). The Ecological Footprint tracks the use of six categories of productive surface areas: cropland, grazing land, fishing grounds, built-up land, forest area, and carbon demand on land. The supply is also known biocapacity or the productivity of the land. The land’s ability to renew/replace what is used and absorb the waste. Both the Ecological Footprint and biocapacity are expressed in global hectares (gha) —comparable, standardized units of world average productivity. Each city, state or nation’s Ecological Footprint can be compared to its biocapacity. If a population’s Ecological Footprint exceeds the region’s biocapacity, that region runs an ecological deficit. Its demand for the goods and services that its land and seas can provide—fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, wood, cotton for clothing, and carbon dioxide absorption—exceeds what the region’s ecosystems can renew. A region in ecological deficit meets demand by importing, using up all of its resources (such as overfishing), and/or emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If a region’s biocapacity exceeds its Ecological Footprint, it has an ecological reserve. The world’s ecological deficit is referred to as overshoot. Since the 1970s, humanity has been in ecological overshoot, with annual demand on resources exceeding what Earth can regenerate each year. Today humanity uses the equivalent of 1.7 Earths to provide the resources we use and absorb our waste. This means it now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year. We use more ecological resources and services than nature can regenerate through overfishing, overharvesting forests, and emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than forests can sequester (take in through photosynthesis). Each country has its own ecological risk profile: The majority of countries are running ecological deficits, demanding more from nature than their ecosystems can regenerate. Others depend heavily on resources from elsewhere, which are under increasing pressure. The Ecological Footprint is a resource accounting tool that helps countries manage their ecological resources and secure their future. Communities and city planners around the globe use our tools to guide land use and budget decisions, track sustainability progress, and support better sustainability policy and actions Human demand on the Earth’s ecosystems is projected to exceed what nature can regenerate by about 75 percent by 2020. We must begin to factor this into our decision-making and use human ingenuity to find new ways to live well, within the Earth’s bounds. This means investing in technology and infrastructure that will allow us to operate in a resource-constrained world. It means taking individual action, and creating the public demand for businesses and policy makers to participate. Important Vocabulary 1. Ecological Footprint: A measure of how much area of biologically productive land and water an individual, population or activity requires to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste it generates. The Ecological Footprint is usually measured in global hectares (gha) 2. Carbon Footprint: The carbon Footprint measures CO2 emissions associated with fossil fuel use. In Ecological Footprint accounts, these amounts are converted into biologically productive areas necessary for absorbing this CO2. The carbon Footprint is added to the Ecological Footprint because it is a competing use of space, since increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere is considered to represent a build-up of ecological debt. 3. Global Hectare: The unit used to measure Ecological Footprint & biocapacity. 4. Biological capacity (biocapacity): Biocapacity is the ecosystem’s ability to produce materials used by people and to absorb waste material generated by humans. 5. Overshoot: Global overshoot occurs when humanity’s demand on nature exceeds the biosphere’s supply, or biocapacity. Such overshoot leads to a depletion of Earth’s life supporting natural capital and a buildup of waste. .
Recommended publications
  • Ecologically Unequal Exchange and Ecological Debt
    Ecologically unequal exchange and ecological debt Alf Hornborg1 Joan Martinez-Alier Lund University, Sweden Autonomous University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain Abstract This article introduces a Special Section on Ecologically Unequal Exchange (EUE), an underlying source of most of the environmental distribution conflicts in our time. The nine articles discuss theories, methodologies, and empirical case studies pertaining to ecologically unequal exchange, and address its relationship to ecological debt. Key words: Ecologically Unequal Exchange, ecological debt, political ecology Résumé Cet article présente une section spéciale sur échange écologique inégal (EUE en anglais), une source sous-jacente de la plupart des conflits de distribution environnementaux d'aujourd'hui. Les neuf articles discutent des théories, des méthodes et des études de cas empiriques relatives à l'échange écologique inégal, et aborder sa relation avec la dette écologique. Mots clés: l'échange écologique inégal, la dette écologique, l'écologie politique Resumen Este artículo presenta una sección especial sobre el intercambio ecológícamente desigual (EUE en inglés), que es una causa subyacente de la mayoría de los conflictos de distribución ambiental en la actualidad. Los artículos discuten nuevas teorías, métodos y estudios de casos empíricos sobre el intercambio ecológicamente desigual, y discuten su relación con la deuda ecológica. Palabras clave: comercio ecológicamente desigual, deuda ecológica, ecología política The articles in this Special Section of the Journal of Political Ecology are based on papers presented at a workshop on Ecologically unequal exchange and ecological debt organized in Lund, Sweden, March 27-28th, 2014. The workshop was part of the project Environmental Justice Organizations, Liabilities, and Trade (EJOLT), and most of the contributors were EJOLT project participants.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Debt – Balancing the Environmental Budget and Compensating Developing Countries
    World Summit on Sustainable Development MAY 2001 OPINION G Ecological Debt – Balancing the Environmental Budget and Compensating Developing Countries Andrew Simms The New Economics Foundation, UK This July, Genoa will witness the annual hand-wringing of the G7 heads of state over the seemingly intractable poor country debt crisis. But at the 10th anniversary of the Earth Summit in 2002 they may be trapped in negotiations over a different and more dangerous kind of debt, a debt that they carry themselves. Copernican revolution is taking place in of all people living in developing countries KEY CHALLENGES Aour understanding of who owes whom will be ‘highly vulnerable’ to floods and FOR THE EU: storms. Ironically, these are also the people in the international community, and what G Accept the existence and should be done to correct the problem. It is likely to be most affected by the results of the scale of the EU's being driven by factors beyond the ability of conventional foreign debt. ecological debt, develop any individual nation to control. Ten years accounting systems to from now, an embattled G7 could be sitting Ecological debt measure it, and use WSSD down to account for the new and enormous In March 2000 a woman who gave birth while as the starting point for carbon debt they owe the developing world clinging to a tree to escape Mozambique’s dialogue on appropriate compensation for for the consequences of climate change, and floods diverted attention from the country’s developing countries to discuss how they intend to settle their arrears.
    [Show full text]
  • An Environmental War Economy: the Lessons of Ecological Debt And
    An Environmental War Economy The lessons of ecological debt and global warming Andrew Simms A NEF Pocketbook The New Economics Foundation (NEF) was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES), which has forced issues such as international debt on to the agenda of the G7/G8 summit meetings. It has taken a lead in helping establish new coalitions and organisations, such as the Jubilee 2000 debt relief campaign, the Ethical Trading Initiative, backed by the Government and leading retailers, the UK Social Investment Forum and the Green Gauge “alternative” indicators of social and environmental progress. NEF is a registered charity, funded by individual supporters, trusts, business, public finance and international donors, and acting through policy, research, training and practical initiatives to promote a “new” economy – one which is people-centred, delivers quality of life and respects environmental limits. Its strategic areas currently include the global economy, corporate accountability, community finance and participative democracy. It is now recognised as one of the UK’s leading think-tanks. To become a NEF supporter, and receive its publications at a discount, contact Sue Carter at the address below. New Economics Foundation Cinnamon House, 6–8 Cole Street London SE1 4YH, United Kingdom Registered charity number 1055254 Tel: +44 (0)20 7407 7447 Fax: +44 (0)20 7407 6473 Email: [email protected] Web: www.neweconomics.org.uk Executive Director: Ed Mayo NEF Pocketbooks Editor: David Nicholson-Lord Design: the Argument by Design ISBN 1 899 407 391 First published: 2001 Cover Picture: Parachute Medical Services recruitment poster.
    [Show full text]
  • The State of the Art in Ecological Footprint Theory and Applications FOOTPRINT
    The State of the Art in Ecological Footprint Theory and Applications FOOTPRINT FORUMEditor Simone Bastianoni Academic Conference 2010Short Communications The State of the Art in Ecological Footprint Theory and Applications FOOTPRINT FORUM 2010 Academic Conference Short Communications Editor Simone Bastianoni We thank the following institutions for their endorsement: Book published for the Academic Conference FOOTPRINT FORUM 2010 Short Communications Colle Val d’Elsa 9th-10th June 2010 Editor Simone Bastianoni Credits graphic design for the cover Francesca Ameglio Pulselli FOREWORD The World is moving towards a severe limitation of resources and, in particular, some of those resources most important for human well-being are approaching their peak point (the point beyond which their withdrawal is no longer convenient). Understanding if a Nation is using its natural stocks and flows of natural resources in a sustainable way is becoming crucial information for policy makers in order to have a complete picture when developing future strategies. Sustainability poses the challenge of determining whether we can hope to see the current level of well-being at least maintained for future generations, and how this can be possible. Since the 1980’s, policy makers and academics as well as the general public have been debating over what sustainable development is, what the best metrics are to measure the level of sustainability a country (or a region), and how to understand and manage the available natural capital. The Ecological Footprint was introduced at the beginning of the 90’s by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees. The Ecological Footprint is, in fact, one of the first comprehensive attempts to measure human carrying capacity, not as a speculative assessment of what the planet might be able to support, but as a description of how many planets it would take in any given year to support human demand of resources in that given year.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • A Review of the Ecological Footprint Indicator—Perceptions and Methods
    Sustainability 2010, 2, 1645-1693; doi:10.3390/su2061645 OPEN ACCESS sustainability ISSN 2071-1050 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Review A Review of the Ecological Footprint Indicator—Perceptions and Methods Thomas Wiedmann * and John Barrett Centre for Sustainability Accounting, Innovation Centre, Innovation Way, York Science Park, York, YO10 5DG, UK * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +44-1904-435-100; Fax: +44-1904-435-135. Received: 20 April 2010; in revised form: 11 May 2010 / Accepted: 1 June 2010 / Published: 7 June 2010 Abstract: We present a comprehensive review of perceptions and methods around the Ecological Footprint (EF), based on a survey of more than 50 international EF stakeholders and a review of more than 150 original papers on EF methods and applications over the last decade. The key points identified in the survey are that the EF (a) is seen as a strong communication tool, (b) has a limited role within a policy context, (c) is limited in scope, (d) should be closer aligned to the UN System of Environmental and Economic Accounting and (e) is most useful as part of a basket of indicators. Key issues from the review of methods are: (a) none of the major methods identified can address all relevant issues and questions at once, (b) basing bioproductivity calculations on Net Primary Production (NPP) is a promising approach, (c) advances in linking bioproductivity with ecosystem services and biodiversity have been made by the Dynamic EF concept and the HANPP indicator, (d) environmentally extended input-output analysis (IOA) provides a number of advantages for improving EF calculations and (e) further variations such as the emergy-based concept or the inclusion of further pollutants are not regarded as providing a fundamental shift to the usefulness of EF for policy making.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecological Debt Debt
    July 2010 Ecological Debt Debt Extractive Industries and Climate Change INTRODUCTION environmental space to deposit Contrary to rhetoric, Foreign Direct wastes, such as greenhouse gases, Investment does not „flow‟ into Third from the industrial countries.‟ 2 The World countries. Instead, „capital term came into professional use in “hops” over “unusable Africa,” 1992 at the Earth Summit of the alighting only in mineral-rich United Nations in Rio de Janeiro of enclaves that are starkly 1992, with NGOs promoting the disconnected from their national concept through an „Alternative societies. The result is not the Treaty‟ and has evolved formation of standardized national considerably to become crucial to grids, but the emergence of huge the South-North resistance areas of the continent that are narratives.3 effectively “off the grid,”‟ as James Ferguson argues.1 The leading scientist in the field, Autonomous University of But Africa is sufficiently on the world Barcelona‟s Joan Martinez-Alier, grid for the purpose of not only calculates ecological debt in many mineral/petroleum extraction, but forms: „nutrients in exports including also abuse of the continent‟s virtual water, the oil and minerals no „ecological space‟ and capacity to longer available; the biodiversity use nature for economic destroyed; sulfur dioxide emitted by development. But being on-grid for copper smelters; the mine tailings; resource extraction and the harms to health from flower environmental exploitation is a curse. exports; the pollution of water by It gives rise to the argument that the mining; the commercial use of Northern industrialized powers owe information and knowledge on the non-industrial South – especially genetic resources when they have Africa - a formal debt for taking too been appropriated gratis much ecological space, and for („biopiracy‟ and agricultural genetic ripping out non-renewable resources resources.‟ As for the North‟s „lack of in an unsustainable manner.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ecological Debt Education Project Credit Where It’S Due - the Ecological Debt Education Project
    CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE THE ECOLOGICAL DEBT EDUCATION PROJECT CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE - THE ECOLOGICAL DEBT EDUCATION PROJECT Sept 2003 ISBN: 1 901855 19 8 Written by Judy Kelso with contributions from Eurig Scandrett and Sarah Lagden RELATED READING Redressing the Balance: Working Graphics design and coordination by Sarah de towards environmental justice in Mowbray. Scotland Cover picture: Sasol refineries in Sasolburg - by Groundwork, Friends of the Earth South Africa This series of six handbooks funded by the Community Fund as part of the Agents for Environmental Printed on non-chlorine-bleached, 100% recycled Justice Project are closely linked to paper by Alphagraphics, tel. 0131 316 1800 Ecological Debt and can also be obtained from Friends of the Earth Scotland This handbook is supported by The Department of International Development as part of the Ecological 1 - Environmental campaigning Debt Education project 2 - community sustainability audits 3 - Setting up a community sus- Friends of the Earth Scotland tainability project 72 Newhaven Road, Edinburgh EH6 5QG 4 - Voices from the Grassroots Tel: 0131 554 9977; Fax: 0131 554 8656 5 - Citizen’s Science: What E-mail: [email protected] Activists Need to Know Website: www.foe-scotland.org.uk 6 - Global Connections: The International Impact of FOE Scotland is a charity (SC003442) Community Action Credit Where it’s Due - The Ecological Debt Education Project 3 Contents 8 page Chapter 1. Introduction 4 1.1 How to use this book 4 1.2 So what is ecological debt? 5 1.2.1 Background of ecological debt concept 5 1.2.2 Accruing ecological debt 6 1.2.3 The argument for ecological debt 6 1.2.4 What can we do about ecological debt? 7 1.3 Popular education and ecological debt 8 1.3.1 Why ecological debt? 8 1.3.2 Why education? 8 1.3.3 What is popular education? 9 1.4 The story so far 10 1.4.1 What has using a popular education approach 11 actually meant? Chapter 2.
    [Show full text]
  • War Economy the Lessons of Ecological Debt and Global Warming
    An Environmental War Economy The lessons of ecological debt and global warming Andrew Simms A NEF Pocketbook The New Economics Foundation (NEF) was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES), which has forced issues such as international debt on to the agenda of the G7/G8 summit meetings. It has taken a lead in helping establish new coalitions and organisations, such as the Jubilee 2000 debt relief campaign, the Ethical Trading Initiative, backed by the Government and leading retailers, the UK Social Investment Forum and the Green Gauge “alternative” indicators of social and environmental progress. NEF is a registered charity, funded by individual supporters, trusts, business, public finance and international donors, and acting through policy, research, training and practical initiatives to promote a “new” economy – one which is people-centred, delivers quality of life and respects environmental limits. Its strategic areas currently include the global economy, corporate accountability, community finance and participative democracy. It is now recognised as one of the UK’s leading think-tanks. To become a NEF supporter, and receive its publications at a discount, contact Sue Carter at the address below. New Economics Foundation Cinnamon House, 6–8 Cole Street London SE1 4YH, United Kingdom Registered charity number 1055254 Tel: +44 (0)20 7407 7447 Fax: +44 (0)20 7407 6473 Email: [email protected] Web: www.neweconomics.org.uk Executive Director: Ed Mayo NEF Pocketbooks Editor: David Nicholson-Lord Design: the Argument by Design ISBN 1 899 407 391 First published: 2001 Cover Picture: Parachute Medical Services recruitment poster.
    [Show full text]
  • Martinez-Alier, J. "Distributional Obstacles to International Environmental Policy: the Failures at Rio and Prospects After Rio." Environmental Values 2, No
    The White Horse Press Full citation: Martinez-Alier, J. "Distributional Obstacles to International Environmental Policy: The Failures at Rio and Prospects after Rio." Environmental Values 2, no. 2, (1993): 97-124. http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/5491 Rights: All rights reserved. © The White Horse Press 1993. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism or review, no part of this article may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the publishers. For further information please see http://www.whpress.co.uk. Distributional Obstacles to International Environmental Policy: The Failures at Rio and Prospects after Rio1 J. MARTINEZ-ALIER Universitat Autònoma, Barcelona 08193, Spain ABSTRACT: The concept of ‘sustainable development’ as used by the Brundtland Commission was meant to separate environmental policy from distributional conflicts. Increases in income sometimes are beneficial for the environment (for instance, they allow the use of domestic cooking fuels which in some ways are less damaging to the environment), but higher incomes have meant higher emissions of greenhouse gases, and higher rates of genetic erosion. In the aftermath of the Rio conference of June 1992, this article analyses some unavoidable links between distributional conflicts and environmental policy. Often, environmental movements have tried to keep environmental re- sources and services outside the market, but there are now attempts to establish property rights on, and to give money values to environmental resources and services, such as agricultural genetic resources and the CO2 absorption facility provided by the oceans and new vegetation.
    [Show full text]
  • Looming Extinctions Due to Invasive Species
    Looming extinctions due to invasive species: Irreversible loss of ecological strategy and evolutionary history Running title: Functional and phylogenetic extinctions due to biological invasions Céline Bellard, Camille Bernery, Camille Leclerc To cite this version: Céline Bellard, Camille Bernery, Camille Leclerc. Looming extinctions due to invasive species: Irre- versible loss of ecological strategy and evolutionary history Running title: Functional and phylogenetic extinctions due to biological invasions. Global Change Biology, Wiley, 2021, 10.1111/gcb.15771. hal-03312166 HAL Id: hal-03312166 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03312166 Submitted on 2 Aug 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. 1 Looming extinctions due to invasive species: Irreversible loss of ecological strategy and 2 evolutionary history 3 Running title: Functional and phylogenetic extinctions due to biological invasions 4 5 Céline Bellard1, Camille Bernery1 & Camille Leclerc1,2 6 1 Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Ecologie Systématique Evolution, 91405, 7 Orsay, France 8 2 Current Address: INRAE, University of Aix Marseille, UMR RECOVER, 9 Aix‐ en‐ Provence, France 10 ORCID : Céline Bellard https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2012-1160 11 Camille Bernery https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6393-1668 12 Camille Leclerc https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5830-1787 13 14 15 16 17 * Corresponding author: [email protected] +33 1 69 15 79 61 18 19 20 21 22 23 Abstract 24 Biological invasions are one of the main drivers of biodiversity decline worldwide.
    [Show full text]
  • September 23 2008 Earth Overshoot Day MEDIA BACKGROUNDER
    September 23 2008 Earth Overshoot Day MEDIA BACKGROUNDER Contents: 1. Terms Defined 2. Key Facts 3. How Nations Compare 4. The Climate Connection 5. Other Global Effects of Overshoot 6. How Earth Overshoot Day is Calculated 7. Contact and Global Footprint Network Information 1. Terms Defined • Ecological overshoot means exceeding the regenerative capacity of the ecosystem that is being exploited. Global overshoot occurs when humanity’s demand on nature exceeds the biosphere’s available supply (or more precisely the biosphere’s regenerative capacity). • The Ecological Footprint measures how much productive area it takes to produce what a population (an individual, a city, a country, or the world) consumes and absorb its waste, using prevailing technology. • Earth Overshoot Day marks the day when humanity begins using more ecological resources and services in a given year than Earth can regenerate in that year. This is the day we (on average) go into global overshoot for a given year. This overuse adds to our global ecological debt. • Ecological debt is the accumulation of annual ecological overshoot. Globally, we have been in overshoot and running deficits since the mid 1980s, which have since accumulated an ecological debt. Examples of the effects of accumulating an ecological debt are depleted fisheries, deforestation, and build-up of CO2 in the atmosphere. (see sections 4 & 5 for facts on the effects of ecological debt) 2. Key Facts • According to current calculations, humanity’s first Earth Overshoot Day was December 31, 1986. By 1995 it was more than a month earlier, arriving on November 21. Ten years later it was six weeks earlier than in 1995, occurring on October 2, 2005.
    [Show full text]