Ecological Footprint

Abstract

The Ecological Footprint is a resource-accounting tool that measures the amount of the Earth’s regenerative capacity demanded by a given activity. Many human activities place demands on the planet’s capacity, including the provision and processing of food, the construction and maintenance of housing, transportation, and the consumption of goods and services. By comparing the amount of capacity demanded with the amount of capacity available each year, Ecological Footprint accounting can measure 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 about one quarter in 2002. This overshoot leads to the degradation of the existing base of biological capital on which human society depends. Levels of Ecological Footprint vary widely between regions and nations, however, with each average resident of 29 high-income countries demanding more than 8 times the per person capacity demanded by 55 low-income countries.