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(Esta página no se ha traducido al Español)- Business Applications
- National Government Applications
- United Arab Emirates
- Europe
- Wales
- Switzerland
- Japan
- Belgium
- The United Kingdom
- Other National Reviews
- Local, Regional and Municipal Applications
Business Applications
WBCSD (Geneva)
The WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development), an organization that represents many of the world’s most influential corporations, has launched Vision 2050 to identify the pathways toward a one-planet economy in the next four decades. Global Footprint Network participated in the year-long process in order to provide a framework for thinking about resource constraints as well as to quantify whether the proposed pathways and scenarios are robust enough to achieve a one planet economy by 2050.
In collaboration with companies such as Boeing, Syngenta and Weyerhaeuser (which are providing data on energy, cropland efficiency and forest productivity, respectively) Global Footprint Network developed a calculator to test whether the solutions and innovations proposed by the group of 35 participating companies are up to scale with the level of change needed.
The emerging consensus was that the pathways toward a sustainable world will require fundamental changes in governance structures, economic frameworks, business and human behavior. The companies found that not only are these changes necessary, they are feasible and offer tremendous business opportunities for those companies that incorporate sustainability into their strategies. For example, companies can develop new green products and energy technologies that humanity will need in the future.
The GPT Group (Australia)
The GPT Group is a multinational and multi-billion dollar commercial real estate development company that owns and manages retail shopping malls in Australia. The company was interested in adopting a standardized method of measuring the environmental impact of its properties to meet operational sustainability targets of 20 percent impact reduction by 2009 for its retail division. Specifically, GPT wanted to be able to compare the impact of different building and interior design choices during remodeling.
To meet this need, Global Footprint Network worked with the company to develop a calculator that GPT’s tenants use as a required part of the leasing process. Using detailed raw materials data for different categories of stores (fashion retailers, restaurants/food vendors, etcetera), Global Footprint Network developed specific and easy-to-use questionnaires that calculate the Footprint implications of different design choices and encourages it's tenants to select low-Footprint elements for their shop.
The retail calculator developed for GPT provides a tangible, standardized metric by which the impact of different design possibilities can be compared. It translates commercial design elements into detailed accounts of material use and waste generation, and often identifies cost and impact saving options. The calculator allows GPT to identify target areas for major ecological performance improvement and has allowed the company to measure progress towards its sustainability goal in terms of Footprint reductions.
Read about the launch of the retail calculator
Pictet (Switzerland)
Swiss investment firm Pictet Asset Management has developed a new type of country bond fund: one which rates countries based on their ability to provide a high quality of life at a minimal ecological cost.
While typical bond ratings tend to favor those countries with the highest income levels (and, often, the highest Ecological Footprints) Pictet’s rating system flows investment to countries that are developing along a more sustainable path. Using a ratio of Ecological Footprint to U.N. Human Development Index (HDI), a measure of human well-being (click here for graphic), the bonds evaluate countries based upon how high a standard of living is provided per unit of nature.
Over the last several years, there has been a growing interest in “Socially Responsible Investment” (SRI) as people think not only about their financial legacy but also about the type of world they will leave to future generations, according to Pictet Sustainability Expert Christoph Butz. Yet, while interest in SRI has grown, there are a limited number of SRI bond and fixed-income products on the market.
The new sustainable bond rating has been already fully implemented in client portfolios, for instance for Geneva-based Ethos, an investment foundation that regroups over eighty small and large Swiss pension funds.
See our newsletter article “Which Government Bonds Have the Highest Ecological Return-on-Investment?”
SITA (France)
SITA, a part of the SUEZ Group, is one of largest waste management companies in France. The waste collection business in the Europe Union has become highly competitive and companies like SITA are seeking new ways to provide greater customer satisfaction at lower cost . SITA was looking for a tool to use as an internal operations indicator that could also be used as a tool to communicate with stakeholders – from citizens to policymakers to businesses.
Global Footprint Network, in partnership with Angenius and Médiation & Environnement, created an interactive tool for calculating the Footprint of the waste collection portion of SITA’s operations. SITA uses the Footprint calculator to analyze their operation systems and determine how to lower their Footprint and increase their operations efficiency (and reduce costs, especially in waste transport). SITA also uses the Ecological Footprint as a conceptual tool to help them and their customers understand the ecological value of waste as an opportunity for creating Footprint savings and recovering resources. By creating and actively marketing their Footprint calculator (see an online version here, in French) and embracing the Footprint conceptual framework, SITA has successfully marketed themselves as green waste managers and can better compete for waste management bids in their industry.
Kadoorie Farm and Botanical Garden (Hong Kong)
The Kadoorie Farm is an Educational Center, Botanical Garden, sustainability advocacy group and biodiversity station in the central New Territories of Hong Kong. KFBG was seeking to fulfill their educational outreach mission and hired Global Footprint Network to calculate the Farm’s Ecological Footprint. Global Footprint Network delivered a report and provided an applications workshop on site, interpreting our results, explaining Footprint calculation methods for both individuals and larger operations, and discussing various strategies for reducing the Farm’s Footprint. The report helped Kadoorie Farm improve its own sustainability, and the organization subsequently co-produced with Global Footprint Network and WWF a report on the Ecological Footprint of the entire Asia-Pacific region.
National Footprint Applications:
Ten-in-Ten Progress to Date
United Arab Emirates
The average UAE resident has an Ecological Footprint of 9.5 global hectares, the highest in the world. In 2007, in response to its top-ranking, (first published in Global Footprint Network and WWF’s 2006 Living Planet Report), the UAE launched the Al Basama Al Beeiya (Ecological Footprint) Initiative to understand and reduce the country’s Ecological Footprint.
The initiative began by bringing together Global Footprint network researchers and UAE officials to understand, review and refine the data and methodology used to calculate the nation’s Footprint. Now the initiative has expanded to include major investment and policy changes. For example, the city of Abu Dhabi has invested $15 billion toward the development of solar and other renewable energy sources. Due to investments in past years, several wind and waste-to-energy projects will become operational in the UAE in 2010. The government also developed mandatory green building codes, which took effect in early 2009. In 2008, the UAE began construction of Masdar City, the world’s first car-free, zero-carbon, zero-waste urban community that will house 1,500 clean-tech companies and 40,000 residents.
The UAE continues to use Global Footprint Network data to guide future policy choices. GFN recently met with representatives of the Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS-WWF) and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, a university started in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Abu Dhabi government to shift Abu Dhabi’s energy sector toward clean energy. The group met to create a scenario calculator that will test the Footprint reduction potential of various policies and determine which offer the biggest ecological returns. They will present its first report on the electricity sector this month. UAE’s efforts have given it new international standing in reducing our global Footprint; the newly established IRENA, or International Renewable Energy Agency, is making its headquarters in the UAE.
A major tourist destination, the UAE is also taking the strategy of developing a green tourism industry that will make its hotels among the greenest in the world. The Abu Dhabi tourism authority announced on January 3rd that it will cut energy use by 10% and water and waste by 20% in 2010. The city of Dubai has also announced a 20% carbon emissions cut for this year. The cities have found that customers favor the opportunity to reduce their own Ecological Footprints by traveling to the UAE.
With the high-level support of the UAE government and the strong partnership with Global Footprint Network, Al Basama Al Beeiya will continue to work to push innovation and policy to reduce the UAE’s resource consumption. According to Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary-General of the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi, Al Basama Al Beeiya strives to make environmental sustainability and the Ecological Footprint concept a primary consideration in all of the country’s future economic and policy decisions.
Read our newsletter article on Envisioning A Low-Footprint Future for the UAE.
Europe
We are in close conversation with the European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA) in Copenhagen, and are exploring ways to make the Ecological Footprint a key sustainability indicator for the European Union (EU). Last year, a group within Eurostat prepared a positive internal review of the EU’s National Footprint Accounts, and the European Commission selected the Ecological Footprint as a key biodiversity indicator for their 2010 biodiversity targets. Last fall, DG Environment initiated a study on how to use the Footprint.
Wales
Wales has adopted the Ecological Footprint as an indicator of sustainability. WWF has recently commissioned a report One Planet Wales: Transforming Wales for a prosperous future within our fair share of the Earth’s resources which highlights how Wales can transform its economy to reduce its Ecological Footprint.
Switzerland
The government of Switzerland has completed a scientific review of the Swiss National Footprint Accounts. The report was published by the Swiss Federal Office for Statistics, and the review was carried out by INFRAS, a leading Swiss policy research institute at the request of four Swiss government agencies. Swiss officials are now incorporating Ecological Footprint data into the nation’s Sustainability Development Plan.
Japan
The Japanese Ministry of the Environment has conducted several research collaborations with Global Footprint Network and other statistical groups, and has completed a review of Japan’s National Footprint Accounts research collaborations. The Ecological Footprint is now a part of Japan’s Basic Environmental Plan.
Belgium
Global Footprint Network has formed a research partnership with the government of Belgium via the Central Federal Planning Office and Belgium’s statistical office. The partnership will identify a research agenda for a full review of the Belgian National Footprint Accounts.
The United Kingdom
DEFRA, the UK’s Ministry of Environment, has conducted a second assessment of the Ecological Footprint in response to Former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s call to shift the UK towards a ‘One Planet Economy.’
Other National Reviews
Germany, Finland and Ireland are also conducting reviews of their national Ecological Footprints.
Local, Regional, and Municipal Applications
The Ecological Footprint is being used as a communication and performance measurement tool by over 100 cities around the world. What follows are some highlights of the Ecological Footprint informing sustainability policy and campaigns at the local government level.
Calgary (Canada)
The City of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, is the first city government to develop concrete Footprint reduction targets. Due to rapid economic and population growth and increasing pressures on the environment, the Mayor and Council of the City of Calgary are utilizing the Ecological Footprint to engage the community and City government in advancing the goals of their 100 year sustainability vision. In 2005, the City of Calgary participated in an Ecological Footprint study, which found that the city’s Footprint exceeded the Canadian average by over 30%, at 9.86 global hectares per person. With the city’s EcoFootprint Program, Calgary plans to reduce its footprint to the national average of 7.25 gha per capita by 2036.
Now, as city leaders make infrastructure and planning choices that will shape the way residents live for years to come, they are using the Ecological Footprint as an important tool in their decision-making. As a direct result of the Footprint projects, officials decided to halt new development on green space for at least a year until they can develop a policy that takes the Footprint and long-term sustainability goals into account. Calgary has become the first city in North America to power its public light rail transit system with 100% emissions-free wind-generated energy. By 2012, The City of Calgary will purchase all of its electricity from renewable sources.
This past year, the Calgary community has joined the EcoFootprint project with a number of new programs. Accomplishments include a personal EcoFootprint Calculator specific to Calgary residents; several collaborative roundtable discussions and a concluding report on Charting Calgary’s Low-Carbon Future Outcomes; the Community Footprint Program to set up two community-initiated environmental projects in each Ward of the city in 2009; and the 20th annual Mayor’s Environment Expo to engage school-age children in sustainability projects, to name a few. Using the Ecological Footprint concept, the city with largest per capita footprint in the country has become a leader in sustainable urban initiatives.
EPA Victoria (Australia)
The Environmental Protection Authority in Victoria, Australia is a partner of Global Footprint Network and actively uses the Ecological Footprint as an engagement and resource accounting tool. Highlights of their applications are described in a mini-report they produced for Footprint Forum 2006 in Siena, Italy and in more detail on their website.
London
The City of London used extensive Footprint analyses to determine target areas for Footprint reductions. The Ecological Footprint was assessed in terms of key impact areas: goods, services and waste management; food; direct energy consumption (except transport); personal mobility; provision of housing, and pollution abatement. This analysis was then used by local governments and business for further policy planning:
- London First and London Remade conducted a follow-up study to investigate how London's public and private sector might work together to reduce London's Ecological Footprint.
- The City of London used the analysis to develop an agenda for change, which sets out the key agenda areas in which action will need to be concentrated in order to make London a more sustainable city and offers proposed action items for Footprint reduction for business, public authorities and the central government.
- A sustainable policy strategy for the Mayor of London was developed based on high Footprint reduction potential areas indicated by the study.
Read more about London's Footprint
Read about City Limits London, a resource flow and Ecological Footprint analysis of Greater London.
Milan (Italy)
Taking Italy’s national Ecological Footprint as a baseline, Ambienteitalia, one of Global Footprint Network Partners in Italy, worked to calculate the Province of Milan Ecological Footprint based on both land and consumption. The results of the study show that the Ecological Footprint of the Province of Milan is 4.17 gha per inhabitant, a figure slightly above the national average the national average of 4.15 gha.
Cardiff and other UK Regional Applications
In 2005, the city of Cardiff completed a comprehensive Footprint study and has since been using the Footprint in public sustainabilty outreach.
Many other cities and regions throughout the U.K. have since conducted Footprint Analyses. The Sustainable Consumption Group of the Stockholm Environment Institute at York has led a number of studies of cities and regions. Read more about the Footprint and regional sustainability in the U.K. here.
Marin, California
The Marin County Community Development Agency (CDA) used the Ecological Footprint to choose focus areas, set targets for reducing the county’s Footprint by 15 percent, and measure the success of an update to the Marin Countywide Plan, a legal document that guides the county’s conservation and development strategy. The Footprint analysis allowed policymakers to determine the extent to which the implementation of these programs and targets and actually reduce Marin’s pressure on ecosystems. The Footprint is also being used by the county and local NGOs as a public communications tool.
Read the Marin Footprint Report
Sonoma, California
Under a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency, Sustainable Sonoma County, a local NGO, used the Ecological Footprint as the foundation of a 2002 campaign. The county's Footprint campaign,“Time to Lighten Up”, inspired every city in the county to sign up for ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability's Climate Saver Initiative, with a commitment to reduce their CO2 output by 20 percent.
In 2007, in an effort to bring Utah’s population growth and increasing Ecological Footprint into public conversation and policy, the Utah Population and Environment Coalition (UPEC) spearheaded the first effort to calculate the Ecological Footprint of a US state. With support from Global Footprint Network, UPEC prepared the Footprint study as part of their Utah Vital Signs project on sustainability indicators. The final report, Utah Vital Signs 2007: the Ecological Footprint of Utah, has provided a means for Utah inhabitants to understand the pressure they place on their own and the world’s biologically productive land and water areas. It has opened public dialogue on overshoot and how citizens, legislators, and planners can make better decisions for their and their state’s future. UPEC’s pioneering project has sparked interest in similar state-level projects around the country.