September 25 is Earth Overshoot Day
Sept 25: Today we go into ecological overdraft - Oakland, CA, September 18, 2009
We all know nature doesn’t do bailouts. Yet on September 25, humanity will have demanded all the ecological services – from filtering CO2 to producing the raw materials for food – that nature can provide this year, according to data from Global Footprint Network, a research organization that measures how much nature we have, how much we use, and who uses what.
Just like any country, company, or household, nature has a budget – it can only produce so many resources and absorb
so much waste each year. The problem is, our demand on nature’s services exceeds what it can regenerate, a condition
known as ecological overshoot. We now use in less than 10 months the amount of resources it takes 12 months for
nature to generate, according to Global Footprint Network data.
“Climate change is the most drastic result of this continued ecological overspending,” said Global Footprint Network
president Mathis Wackernagel. “But it is not the only one: biodiversity loss, shrinking forests, declining fisheries, soil
erosion and freshwater stress are all signs that nature is running out of credit to extend.”
Global Recession Barely Slows Ecological Demand
Because of the global economic slowdown, we will reach this unfortunate milestone one day later than last year,
according to Global Footprint Network projections. By comparison, in the past, Earth Overshoot Day has steadily moved
four to six days closer to January 1st each year.
“The fact is that in spite of a very painful world economic situation, we are still way over-budget in our use of nature,”
said Wackernagel. “The challenge is to reduce overshoot in boom times as well as lean years. This will mean finding a
way to maintain healthy economies and provide for human well-being in a way that doesn’t depend on liquidating
resources and accumulating CO2:”
How Earth Overshoot Day is calculated
Every year, Global Footprint Network calculates humanity’s Ecological Footprint – the amount of productive land and sea
area required to produce the resources we consume and absorb our waste, including CO2 emissions – and compares
that with biocapacity, the ability of ecosystems to generate resources. Earth Overshoot Day – a concept devised by U.K.-
based new economics foundation – is calculated from 2005 data (the most recent year for which data are available) and
projections based on historical rates of growth in population and consumption, as well as the historical link between world
GDP and resource demand to account for the impact of the worldwide economic slowdown.
Taking Action
Minimizing reliance on fossil fuels in favour of cleaner and less resource-intensive forms of energy is one important step
toward this goal. Another is encouraging resource-efficient infrastructure. The roads, power plants, housing, water
systems, and urban expansions we invest in today may last 50 or even 100 years. Poor choices can lock us into this
ecologically (and economically) risky resource consumption for decades to come.
Global Footprint Network and its international partner network is focused on solving the problem of overshoot, working
with businesses and government leaders around the world to make ecological limits a central part of decision-making
everywhere. The week of September 25, Earth Overshoot Day events and activities will take place around the world.
With international commitment to end overshoot, Earth Overshoot Day can become history instead of news.
For a media kit and supporting graphics, visit www.footprintnetwork.org/earthovershootday/media
For more information contact:
Nicole Freeling
+1 (510) 845-0594
cell: +1 (415) 577-9282
nicole@footprintnetwork.org