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What is the Ecological Footprint?
Sailing For Sustainability
Job Opportunities
Save the Date: Sienna 2006
About the Global Footprint Network
Our mission is to promote a sustainable economy by advancing the Ecological
Footprint, a measurement tool that makes the reality of planetary limits
relevant to decision-makers.
Advisory Council
E.O. Wilson
Manfred Max-Neef
Rhodri Morgan
Wangari Maathai
David Suzuki
Emil Salim
Julia Marton-Lefèvre
William E. Rees
Lester Brown
Jorgen Randers
M S Swaminathan
Daniel Pauly
Eric Garcetti
Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker
Michael Meacher
Karl-Henrik Robèrt
Will Steffen
Dominique Voynet
Fabio Feldman
Oscar Arias
Herman E. Daly
Peter Raven
Mick Bourke
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"The
world will no longer be divided by the ideologies of
'left' and 'right,' but by those who accept ecological
limits and those who don't."
Wolfgang Sachs, Wuppertal Institute
Special Announcement
Newest Ecological Footprint Data Show Overshoot Growing,
"Footprint trading" between Nations
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Humanity's Ecological Footprint:
1961-2002
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The
2005 edition of the National Accounts, just released
by Global Footprint Network, shows overshoot
continuing to grow: in 2002, humanity consumed 23%
percent more ecological resources than the Earth produced.
This is up from 21% for the prior year. Although it
is possible to exceed ecological limits in the short-term,
this "ecological deficit" leads to the destruction of
ecological assets, such as fisheries and forests, on
which our economy depends.
The Data Behind the Trends
The National
Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts, covering 150
countries for the past 41 years, provide common conversion
factors that make globally comparable results possible
for Ecological Footprint projects throughout the world.
This year's edition has been sponsored by the European
Environment Agency, which plans to present the headline
findings in its State of the Environment Report, to
be released on November 29th.
Footprint Trading
The 2005 National Accounts include many improvements
over the 2004 edition, including a major update to the
trade section, allowing the tracking of "Footprint trade"
for 150 nations both today and in the past. In 2002,
China, the United Kingdom and Japan were the largest
net importers of biocapacity.
Update on our Ten-in-Ten Campaign
Our goal is to have ten national governments adopt the
Ecological Footprint as a central indicator within the
next ten years. We are excited to report that new research
collaborations are already starting with Canada, Sweden,
and Switzerland. These will generate further improvements
to the National Accounts, and will increase the likelihood
of national adoption.
Support
the Ten-in-Ten Campaign
Progress toward Worldwide Standards
We are also excited to report that our Standards
Committees will be presenting the Network's first
application standards for public review and comment
later this year. Special thanks to our partner
organizations and committee chairs for the vital
role they play in developing these standards.
How to Get the Data
Top line results for 152 countries are available on
EEA's
website. For a closer look at the National Accounts,
free Academic
Editions that show the fully detailed Footprint
calculations and methodology are available for download.
Project
Editions including comprehensive results, conversion
factors and analysis for any chosen country are also
available for licensing.
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