Newsroom
Media Inquiries: Contact Nicole Freeling, (510) 838-8879, ext. 302, nicole@footprintnetwork.org
Press Releases
In The News
Overshoot In The News
Coverage in Other Languages
Press Releases
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Gap widening between human demand and Earth’s supply, data show
Humanity now requires the resources it would take almost one and a half planets to sustainably produce, according to new figures released today by Global Footprint Network. The data show that humanity is demanding nature’s resources and producing carbon dioxide emissions at a rate 44 percent faster than what nature can regenerate and reabsorb. This ecological “overshoot” means it now takes about 17 months for the Earth to regenerate what we use in one year. (more...)
Global Footprint Network, Oakland, CA, USA, November 24, 2009
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National Footprint Accounts 2009 media factsheet
Summary of the most recent Ecological Footprint and biocapacity calculations for more than 100 nations and humanity as a whole.
Global Footprint Network, Oakland, Calif., U.S.A, November 24, 2009
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Ecological Trends and Africa's Future
If current population and consumption trends continue, Africa’s Ecological Footprint (a measure of its demand on nature) will exceed its biocapacity within the next twenty years, according to a publication to be released by Global Footprint Network on Monday, October 19. A number of countries, including Senegal, Kenya and Tanzania, are set to reach that threshold in less than five years. (more...)
Global Footprint Network, Oakland, CA, October 16, 2009
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Sept 25: Today we go into ecological overdraft
We all know nature doesn’t do bailouts. Yet on September 25, humanity will have demanded all the ecological services – from filtering CO2 to producing the raw materials for food – that nature can provide this year, according to data from Global Footprint Network, a research organization that measures how much nature we have, how much we use, and who uses what. (more...)
Global Footprint Network, Oakland, CA, September 18, 2009
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Humanity’s Growing Demand on Nature Approaching Critical Threshold
At the current rate humanity is using natural resources and producing waste, by the early 2030s we will require the resources of two planets to meet our needs, (more...)
Global Footprint Network, Oakland, CA, October 29, 2008
In The News
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Is GDP An Obsolete Measure of Progress?
Could it be that the GDP, that gold standard of economic data, might not be the best way to gauge a nation's relative prosperity? One new calculation that's been attracting attention is the Happy Planet Index (HPI), which combines economic metrics with indicators of well-being, including subjective measures of life satisfaction, which have become quite sophisticated (HPI uses data from Gallup, World Values Survey, and Ecological Footprint).
TIME, , January 30, 2010
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Economic growth cannot buy the planet more time
Global economic growth - in its current form - cannot continue if nations are serious about curbing climate change, says Andrew Simms. The latest set of accounts for humanity's ecological footprint reveal that, conservatively, it takes the Earth nearly 18 months to produce the ecological services that humanity uses in one year.
BBC, UK, January 26, 2010
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The Happiest People
Costa Rica wins the day, for achieving contentment and longevity in an environmentally sustainable way. The Dominican Republic ranks second, the United States 114th (because of its huge ecological footprint) and Zimbabwe is last.
The New York Times, San Jose, Costa Rica, January 06, 2010
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Climate conference emits its share of carbon
If they fail to reach a climate deal in Copenhagen, world leaders flying in their private jets and huddling in five-star hotels will have little to show for their efforts beyond a big, fat carbon footprint.
Associated Press, Copenhagen, December 15, 2009
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Mankind Using Earth's Resources at Alarming Rate
Humanity would need five Earths to produce the resources needed if everyone lived as profligately as Americans, according to a report issued Tuesday. As it is, humanity each year uses resources equivalent to nearly one-and-a-half Earths to meet its needs, said the report by Global Footprint Network, an international think tank.
Agence France Presse, Washington, DC, November 23, 2009
Overshoot In The News
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Europe's Post-Copenhagen View of Obama
The Copenhagen summit on climate change taught Europe a hard lesson about its trans-Atlantic partner. Great hope had greeted President Obama when he replaced George W. Bush at the American helm, but a year later Europeans are realizing that Mr. Obama is going to have a very difficult time delivering on his agenda.
New York Times, , January 13, 2010
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World carbon emissions overshoot "budget": PwC
The world has emitted extra greenhouse gases this century equivalent to the annual totals of China and the United States above a maximum for avoiding the worst of climate change, a study estimated Tuesday.
Reuters.com, Oslo, December 01, 2009
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Letting a thousand flowers wither
SEEKING to alleviate poverty, reduce world hunger and protect biodiversity sounds, to your correspondent’s ears, like something a Miss World hopeful might have pledged in the 1980s. In fact, it was what a professor of soil quality at a lesser-known university in the Netherlands promised to a scientific conference that concluded on October 16th.
The Economist, London, October 20, 2009
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G.D.P. R.I.P.
G.D.P. is one measure of national income, of how much wealth Americans make, and it’s a deeply foolish indicator of how the economy is doing. It ought to join buggy whips and VCRs on the dust-heap of history.
New York Times, New York, August 09, 2009
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A Timely Reminder of the Real Limits to Growth
It has been more than 30 years since a groundbreaking book predicted that if growth continued unchecked, the Earth’s ecological systems would be overwhelmed within a century. The latest study from an international team of scientists should serve as an eleventh-hour warning that cannot be ignored. By Bill McKibben
Yale Environment 360, New Haven, Conn., October 01, 2009
Coverage in Other Languages
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Menschheit verbraucht Ressourcen schneller als sie nachwachsen
Die Menschheit verbraucht die natürlichen Ressourcen schneller als sie nachwachsen können. Um den Jahresverbrauch der Menschen zu regenerieren, benötigt die Erde inzwischen etwa 18 Monate, besagt eine Studie der US-Umweltschutzinitiative Global Footprint Network.
A-Z.ch, Switzerland, November 24, 2009
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Nuestro déficit ecológico
Los patrones de consumo de los costarricenses, dice el informe sobre el ‘ Estado de la Nación,’ superan los recursos que nuestro territorio es capaz de producir. En los foros sobre cambio climático, Costa Rica debe hablar con firmeza y, ojalá, con la autoridad moral de un país capaz de contribuir cuanto sea necesario.
Nacion.com, Costa Rica, November 25, 2009
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Una herramienta para buscar nuestro desarrollo sostenible
Mientras por un lado hablamos de la importancia de los recursos naturales, por otro seguimos aferrados al concepto de que desarrollo implica necesariamente incrementos en la producción y en el consumo. Lo que nos obliga a preguntarnos: ¿cuánto “desarrollo” y cuánto desgaste de los recursos naturales son aceptables para asegurar un balance entre estos factores y una buena calidad de vida?
La Prensa Libre, Costa Rica, November 26, 2009
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Wir haben ein Problem
EBL, Switzerland, November 09, 2009
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Wir sollen wie Bauern denken
Der gebürtige Basler Mathis Wackernagel ist ein scharfsinniger und nüchtermner Umweltstratege
Mittelland Zeitung, Switzerland, November 18, 2009