Footprint for National Governments

What Is Ten-in-Ten?

In 2005, we launched our “Ten-in-Ten” campaign with the goal of institutionalizing the Ecological Footprint in at least ten key nations by 2015. Our aim is to have ecological accounting be given as much weight as economic accounting: we want the Ecological Footprint become as prominent a metric as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

With the Footprint as an official measure, governments can:

• recognize the value of their ecological assets,
• systematically account for and manage them,
• identify the risks of ecological deficits, and
• measure tangible progress towards long-term sustainability.

The Ten-in-Ten campaign encourages governments to identify and support independent third parties to review and help improve the National Footprint Accounts for their country. These research collaborations help strengthen the accounts’ data and methodology so that the Ecological Footprint becomes a more relevant and robust tool for setting public policy. Today, based on our work and ongoing conversations, we have identified 30 countries likely to be early adopters of the Ecological Footprint.

Nations as leaders for our future

Nations can take pride in a research partnership in which they become pioneers in adopting a sustainability metric that is based on a impartial, quantitative assessment of the planet’s ecological limits. What begins with ten pioneering countries adopting the Ecological Footprint, will pave the way for many more to adopt this sustainability metric.