Footprint Network Blog - Ecological Limits
China’s Ecological Footprint has quadrupled in the last four decades, with the country now demanding more from the planet than any nation except the United States, according to a report released last month by Global Footprint Network, WWF China, and CCICED (China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development), a Chinese government advisory group.
In the last in the last 50 years, China has soared from being one of the more moderate consumers of the planet’s resources to one of the largest, according to the Report on Ecological Footprint in China, presented June 10 in Beijing. The report’s findings underscore the crucial role China will play in addressing the major resource challenges humanity faces in the 21st century.
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While Africans per capita consume very little of the world’s biological resources, growing population is bringing the region close to reaching it’s ecological limits, according to a groundbreaking report Global Footprint Network, in conjunction with WWF, presented June 9 at the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment in Johannesburg.
Offering the first in-depth look at the Ecological Footprint of Africa and its constituent countries, Africa: Ecological Footprint and Human Wellbeing examines the role natural resources can play in advancing the region’s goals to end poverty and disease – or conversely, if mismanaged, in thwarting these goals. The report is the result of a multi-year effort by Global Footprint Network and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to explore how ecological limits apply and relate to human development in the region.
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“Humanity is brushing up against ecological limits”, “natural resources are dwindling”, “unsustainable consumption increases” – whatever the chosen term or headline, the fact is that the concept of overshoot has gotten a lot of media attention recently. The past few months have seen stories in The New Yorker, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal among others, all reflecting a growing awareness that carbon is only part of the overshoot story.
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In Deep Economy, renowned environmental journalist and climate activist Bill McKibben has done more than simply write a catchy page-turner; he has created a blueprint for bringing humanity out of overshoot. McKibben weaves evidence of our ecological crisis (including Footprint data) with explorations of the history and psychology of our growth-based economy and “hyper-individualist” culture. Clearly but gently, he shows how global economic expansion has become our culture’s mantra, yet is simply not an option if humans are to survive this era of global overshoot.
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Hear Mathis Wackernagel discuss how the Ecological Footprint helps inform sustainable development and which countries are winning the game on this Living on Earth interview.
Mathis Wackernagel talks about Ecological Debt Day, how to slow our appetite for resources, and what we can do to better manage our natural assets on Earth & Sky Radio. Listen here.
A recent UNEP report states that many of the major threats to the planet, such as climate change, the rate of extinction of species, and the challenge of feeding a growing population, remain unresolved and are putting humanity at risk. The Division of Early Warning and Assessment of the United Nations Environment Programme released this information and more in their “UN GEO4 report,” the Global Environmental Outlook 2007.
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Don’t miss The Story of Stuff! It’s a new online video that explores the full life cycle of what we buy and the political-economic history of conspicuous consumption. It is smart, fast and fact-filled, informative and positive, and a great tool for raising awareness about ecological limits. The 20 minute film was produced by Free Range Studios and funded by the Tides Foundation and the Funders Workgroup for Sustainable Production and Consumption. You can watch it online at www.storyofstuff.com.
Telling a complex story in an interesting way is challenging. Leonardo Di Caprio and Al Gore did it. And so can you! The recent documentaries about environmental degradation, the depletion of resources, and climate change showed the power of video to help people to understand scientific concepts.
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Saturday, October 6 marked Ecological Debt Day - the day when humanity has consumed all the resources the planet will produce this year.
Ecological Debt Day highlights the fact that humanity is living off its ecological credit card. Just as spending more money than you have in the bank leads to financial debt, ecological overshoot, or using more resources than the planet can renew in a year, accumulates an ecological debt. This can go on for a short time, but ultimately it leads to a build up of waste and the depletion of the very resources on which the human economy depends.
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