Ecological Footprint

Abstract

The Ecological Footprint is a resource accounting tool that measures the amount of the Earth's regenerative capacity (or “biocapacity”) demanded by a given activity. Many human activities place demands on the planet's regenerative capacity, including the provision and processing of food, the construction and maintenance of housing, transportation, and the consumption of goods and services. This regenerative capacity is the materially most limiting factor for human economies. Human demands on nature compete for biologically productive space, both demand on and availability of regenerative capacity can be approximated by adding up the mutually exclusive biologically productive areas for providing these services. By comparing the amount of capacity demanded with the amount of capacity available, Ecological Footprint accounting can measure, year by year, the extent to which human demands on the biosphere exceed the biosphere's capacity to meet those demands. Globally, human society is currently operating in a state of overshoot, with the global Footprint exceeding global biocapacity by over 68% in 2013. This overshoot depletes the natural capital on which human society depends—reducing stocks and filling up waste sinks. Levels of Ecological Footprint and biocapacity vary widely over time and between regions and nations.