Ecological footprint
Footprint Basics
Human activities consume resources and produce waste. As our populations grow and global consumption increases, it is essential that we measure nature’s capacity to meet these demands on our planet.
The Ecological Footprint has emerged as one of the world’s leading measures of human demand on nature. It allows us to calculate human pressure on the planet and come up with facts such as: If everyone lived the lifestyle of the average American, we would need 5 planets. Ecological Footprint Accounting thus addresses whether the planet is large enough to keep up with the demands of humanity.
The Ecological Footprint has emerged as one of the world’s leading measures of human demand on nature. It allows us to calculate human pressure on the planet and come up with facts such as: If everyone lived the lifestyle of the average American, we would need 5 planets. Ecological Footprint Accounting thus addresses whether the planet is large enough to keep up with the demands of humanity.
How the Ecological Footprint Works
The Ecological Footprint measures the supply of and demand on nature. On the supply side biocapacity represents the planet’s biologically productive land areas including our forests, pastures, cropland and fisheries. These areas, especially if left unharvested, can also absorb much of the waste we generate, especially our carbon emissions.
Biocapacity can then be compared with humanity’s demand on nature: our Ecological Footprint. The Ecological Footprint represents the productive area required to provide the renewable resources humanity is using and to absorb its waste. The productive area currently occupied by human infrastructure is also included in this calculation, since built-up land is not available for resource regeneration.
Biocapacity can then be compared with humanity’s demand on nature: our Ecological Footprint. The Ecological Footprint represents the productive area required to provide the renewable resources humanity is using and to absorb its waste. The productive area currently occupied by human infrastructure is also included in this calculation, since built-up land is not available for resource regeneration.
Our current global situation:
Since the 1970s, humanity has been in ecological overshoot with annual demand on resources exceeding what Earth can regenerate each year.
It now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year. We maintain this overshoot by liquidating the Earth’s resources. Overshoot is a vastly underestimated threat to human well-being and the health of the planet, and one that is not adequately addressed.
By measuring the Footprint of a population—an individual, city, business, nation, or all of humanity—we can assess our pressure on the planet, which helps us manage our ecological assets more wisely and take personal and collective action in support of a world where humanity lives within the Earth’s bounds.
Conceived in 1990 by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees at the University of British Columbia, the Ecological Footprint launched the broader Footprint movement, including the carbon Footprint, and is now widely used by scientists, businesses, governments, individuals and institutions working to monitor ecological resource use and advance sustainable development.
Since the 1970s, humanity has been in ecological overshoot with annual demand on resources exceeding what Earth can regenerate each year.
It now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year. We maintain this overshoot by liquidating the Earth’s resources. Overshoot is a vastly underestimated threat to human well-being and the health of the planet, and one that is not adequately addressed.
By measuring the Footprint of a population—an individual, city, business, nation, or all of humanity—we can assess our pressure on the planet, which helps us manage our ecological assets more wisely and take personal and collective action in support of a world where humanity lives within the Earth’s bounds.
Conceived in 1990 by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees at the University of British Columbia, the Ecological Footprint launched the broader Footprint movement, including the carbon Footprint, and is now widely used by scientists, businesses, governments, individuals and institutions working to monitor ecological resource use and advance sustainable development.
Living Planet Report
Every two years, Global Footprint Network, WWF and the Zoological Society of London publish the Living Planet Report, the world's leading, science-based analysis on the health of our planet and the impact of human activity. The Living Planet Report uses the Ecological Footprint and additional complementary measures to explore the changing state of global biodiversity and human consumption. The report documents the extent of human pressure on the planet, how that compares across nations, and how it is impacting the natural world.
View the Living Planet Report 2016 - Press Release
View the Living Planet Report 2016 - Press Release
Global wildlife populations could drop two-thirds by 2020 as human demand continues to exceed the planet’s capacity
The Living Planet Report 2016, released October 27, 2016, shows that the overexploitation of ecological resources by humanity is directly contributing to the 67 percent plunge in wild vertebrate populations scientists forecast for the 50-year period ending in 2020.The top threats to species identified in the report are directly linked to human activities, including habitat loss, degradation, and overexploitation of wildlife. According to Global Footprint Network, humanity is currently using the resources of 1.6 planets to provide the goods and services we demand each year while we only have one Earth.
Under a business-as-usual path for the underlying drivers of resource consumption, increasing human demand on the Earth’s ecosystems is projected to exceed their regenerative capacity by about 75 percent by 2020, according to Global Footprint Network, which has collaborated with WWF on the biennial Living Planet Report since 2000.
Download or view the Living Planet Reports
Under a business-as-usual path for the underlying drivers of resource consumption, increasing human demand on the Earth’s ecosystems is projected to exceed their regenerative capacity by about 75 percent by 2020, according to Global Footprint Network, which has collaborated with WWF on the biennial Living Planet Report since 2000.
Download or view the Living Planet Reports
Living Planet Report Partners
WWF
WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.
Zoological Society of London
Founded in 1826, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is an international scientific, conservation, and educational organization. Its mission is to achieve and promote the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats.
WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.
Zoological Society of London
Founded in 1826, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is an international scientific, conservation, and educational organization. Its mission is to achieve and promote the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats.
Data and Results
National Footprint Accounts:
The National Footprint Accounts (NFAs), developed by Global Footprint Network, provide comprehensive data on humanity’s demand on nature. They track how this demand compares across more than 200 countries, territories, and regions, and how it relates to the planet’s biological capacity to meet these demands.
Graphic country time trends for tracking per-person Ecological Footprint and biocapacity since 1961 are available in the “COUNTRY TRENDS” table to the right - page link
The annually updated National Footprint Accounts undergo continuous improvement under the advice of the National Accounts Review Committee. The latest method is described in the Calculation Methodology Paper.
For non commercial, educational use only, we now offer free access to a new Public Data Package, which includes latest per-capita Ecological Footprint and biocapacity results for 186 countries - page link
The National Footprint Accounts (NFAs), developed by Global Footprint Network, provide comprehensive data on humanity’s demand on nature. They track how this demand compares across more than 200 countries, territories, and regions, and how it relates to the planet’s biological capacity to meet these demands.
Graphic country time trends for tracking per-person Ecological Footprint and biocapacity since 1961 are available in the “COUNTRY TRENDS” table to the right - page link
The annually updated National Footprint Accounts undergo continuous improvement under the advice of the National Accounts Review Committee. The latest method is described in the Calculation Methodology Paper.
For non commercial, educational use only, we now offer free access to a new Public Data Package, which includes latest per-capita Ecological Footprint and biocapacity results for 186 countries - page link
Footprint by country
Ecological assets are at the core of every nation's long-term wealth. Yet today, population growth and consumption patterns are putting more pressure on our planet's ecosystems, as seen in water shortages, reduced cropland productivity, deforestation, biodiversity loss, fisheries collapse and climate change.
Ecological Footprint accounting compares how much demand human consumption places on the biosphere (Ecological Footprint) to the area, or supply, of productive land available to meet this demand (biocapacity). Both Footprint and biocapacity are measured in global hectares. Footprint accounting exposes the unique risks and opportunities that natural resource constraints pose to each nation - page link
Ecological Footprint accounting compares how much demand human consumption places on the biosphere (Ecological Footprint) to the area, or supply, of productive land available to meet this demand (biocapacity). Both Footprint and biocapacity are measured in global hectares. Footprint accounting exposes the unique risks and opportunities that natural resource constraints pose to each nation - page link
Country Risk Rankings:
Global Footprint Network’s Country Risk Rankings quantify natural resource and environmental risks so they can be incorporated into country risk and sovereign credit risk assessments. The methodology is based on the ERISC (Environmental Risk in Sovereign Credit analysis) methodology, developed jointly with UNEP FI and 14 financial institutions.
The method relies on the Ecological Footprint and biocapacity metrics, which measure renewable biological resources (such as fisheries, forests, cropland and grazing land) and are supplemented with data on non-renewable natural resources including fossil fuels, metals and minerals to provide a more comprehensive definition of natural resources. The Country Risk Rankings lay the foundations for enhanced analytics that can account for the growing materiality of natural resource constraints for sovereign credit risk.
The ERISC report fills a methodology gap by exploring to what extent resource and ecological risks can impact a nation’s economy and how these factors affect a nation’s ability to pay its debts. ERISC rankings are now available for over 130 countries.
Global Footprint Network’s Country Risk Rankings quantify natural resource and environmental risks so they can be incorporated into country risk and sovereign credit risk assessments. The methodology is based on the ERISC (Environmental Risk in Sovereign Credit analysis) methodology, developed jointly with UNEP FI and 14 financial institutions.
The method relies on the Ecological Footprint and biocapacity metrics, which measure renewable biological resources (such as fisheries, forests, cropland and grazing land) and are supplemented with data on non-renewable natural resources including fossil fuels, metals and minerals to provide a more comprehensive definition of natural resources. The Country Risk Rankings lay the foundations for enhanced analytics that can account for the growing materiality of natural resource constraints for sovereign credit risk.
The ERISC report fills a methodology gap by exploring to what extent resource and ecological risks can impact a nation’s economy and how these factors affect a nation’s ability to pay its debts. ERISC rankings are now available for over 130 countries.
Additional Resources
The Working Guidebook to the 2014 National Footprint Accounts describes the implementation of the Ecological Footprint methodology as presented in the 2014 edition for the National Footprint Accounts. It provides an in depth description of each part of the 2014 NFA workbook, along with detailed descriptions of calculations and data sources.
The Ecological Footprint Atlas 2010 explains the purpose behind Ecological Footprint accounting, addressing research questions and basic concepts, as well as the underlying science of the calculations. Giving examples of how the Ecological Footprint has been applied. For the technical reader, the Atlas includes more detailed notes about calculation of the results, explains recent advances to enhance the consistency, reliability and resolution of the National Footprint Accounts, and reviews the evolution of the National Footprint Accounts methodology.
ERISC: A New Angle on Sovereign Credit Risk report describes the rationale and methodology used to substantiate the business case for financial institutions and ratings agencies to include ecological criteria as a key component of country risk analysis - Source
The Ecological Footprint Atlas 2010 explains the purpose behind Ecological Footprint accounting, addressing research questions and basic concepts, as well as the underlying science of the calculations. Giving examples of how the Ecological Footprint has been applied. For the technical reader, the Atlas includes more detailed notes about calculation of the results, explains recent advances to enhance the consistency, reliability and resolution of the National Footprint Accounts, and reviews the evolution of the National Footprint Accounts methodology.
ERISC: A New Angle on Sovereign Credit Risk report describes the rationale and methodology used to substantiate the business case for financial institutions and ratings agencies to include ecological criteria as a key component of country risk analysis - Source
