The
European Environment Agency in coordination with Global
Footprint Network presents:
The National Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts,
2005 Edition
What is Ecological Footprint accounting? 23/11/2005
- Because people consume products and services, all of
which require resources and generate waste, every one
of us places demands on the Earth. Nature can keep up
with these demands as long as they stay within the regenerative
capacity of the biosphere, the living part of the planet.
Ecological Footprint accounting measures the extent to
which the ecological demand of human economies stays within
or exceeds the capacity of the biosphere to supply goods
and services. These accounts help individuals, organisations,
and governments frame policies, set targets, and track
progress toward sustainability.
Such accounting is possible because resource and waste
flows can be tracked, and most of these flows can be associated
with the amount and type of biologically productive areas
required to maintain them. The Footprint of a population
is the total amount of biologically productive land and
water area that the population requires to produce the
resources it consumes and absorb the waste it generates,
using current technology. Since people consume resources
and ecological services from all over the world, their
Footprint is the sum of these areas, regardless of where
they are located on the planet.
The Ecological Footprint can be applied at scales ranging
from single products to households, organisations, cities,
regions, nations, and humanity as a whole. The Footprint
is used by governments, businesses, and organisations
to measure and manage sustainability efforts, from communication
and planning to implementation and evaluation of results.
The 2005 Edition Ecological Footprint Accounts
The development of the 2005 Edition of the National Ecological
Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts was sponsored by the
European Environment Agency. These new accounts have generated
the most accurate Ecological Footprint results to date,
which are now available through the year 2002. The greatest
improvement since the previous edition has been the addition
of detailed trade statistics, which allow us to more accurately
track imports and exports of Footprint and biocapacity
at the national level.
These updated accounts are explained in more detail in
the upcoming 2005 European Environment Agency publication
"Europeans use 2.1 Europes - how the planet and the
world's largest economy interact." This report documents
in detail the relationships between Europe and the world's
ecosystems, and shows how social, political, and economic
forces shape these relationships. It explores how Europe
affects the global biosphere as a whole, and how actions
external to its borders affect the health of Europe's
ecosystems. The report also examines future policy choices
and how these might influence the balance between Europe's
supply of and demand on ecosystem resources, addressing
what decisions made today may mean for the well-being
of Europe's citizens tomorrow.
Findings
The Earth's biologically productive area is approximately
11.2 billion hectares, or 1.8 global hectares per person
in 2002 (assuming that no capacity is set aside for wild
species). Global hectares are hectares of biologically
productive area with world-average productivity. This
standardised measurement unit, or 'ecological currency,'
makes comparisons of demand and supply possible across
the world.
In 2002, humanity's demand on the biosphere, its global
Ecological Footprint, was 13.7 billion global hectares,
or 2.2 global hectares per person. Thus in 2002, humanity's
Ecological Footprint exceeded global biocapacity by 0.4
global hectares per person, or 23 percent. This finding
indicates that the human economy is in ecological overshoot:
the planet's ecological stocks are being depleted faster
than nature can regenerate them. This means that we are
eroding the future supply of ecological resources and
operating at the risk of environmental collapse.
More detailed results for EU-25 nations and over 120 other
countries around the world are included in the attached
data sheets.
The Method's Development
Created by William E. Rees and Mathis Wackernagel in the
early 11000s, the Ecological Footprint methodology has
matured considerably over the past twenty years. Development
and standardisation of this accounting method are currently
coordinated by Global Footprint Network, founded in 2003,
and its 50 partner organisations. More on the science
and methodology used to create Ecological Footprint accounts,
examples of how they are used to advance sustainability,
and ways to get copies of the accounts can be found on
Global Footprint Network's website at www.footprintnetwork.org.
Download: Global footprint - data. |