Blog

Committing to a New Future

The United Nations launches global goals to achieve humanity’s collective dream: sustainable development Download Our Sustainable Development Poster This week marks an extraordinary moment for humanity. Representatives of 193 nations are convening in New York at the United Nations to... Read More

State of the States Report

In 2015, the Ecological Deficit Day of the United States landed on July 14, according to our new report, “State of the States: A New Perspective on the Wealth of Our Nation,” co-authored by Earth Economics. A Twitter chat on... Read More

Could Earth Day 2015 be the tipping point?

Earth Day’s 45th anniversary is being celebrated today around the world. On this day—less than one-third into the calendar year—humanity already has used about half of all renewable natural resources and services that the planet can generate this year, according... Read More

Cloughjordan leads the way toward sustainable living

If everyone on Earth lived the lifestyle of the Cloughjordan Ecovillage, we would be remarkably close to living within the budget of our planet’s ecological resources. Researcher Vince Carragher’s bottom-up Ecological Footprint accounting methodology helps residents stay on track. Seven... Read More

Drilling down on the oil price slide

The spectacular 40 percent crash in oil prices that began in July and accelerated in October has focused the world’s attention once again on the “master commodity” and its far-reaching effects on the global economy. Unfortunately, much of the media... Read More

New pilot project to empower villagers in India

For the first time, Global Footprint Network is partnering with other NGOs to support both sustainable and human development at the community level in India. While Global Footprint Network projects often target decision-makers at the national, sub-national, and city levels,... Read More

World Cup footwork and Footprints: winners and losers

As the final World Cup match quickly approaches, we couldn’t help but kick around some Ecological Footprint numbers describing the diverse nations competing in this year’s games. The eight nations who made it to the quarter-finals represent vastly different lifestyles.... Read More

Earth Overshoot Day 2013, around the world

As of this week, we are in overshoot. Humanity has exhausted nature’s budget for the year. August 20 was Earth Overshoot Day 2013, the approximate date humanity’s ecological resource consumption exceeded what Earth can renew this year. A mere 34... Read More

Human development and the Ecological Footprint

Despite over $150 billion being spent annually in development globally, virtually nobody is tracking whether the achieved progress can last, or whether it is becoming increasingly fragile without the necessary access to nature’s resources. But this is changing. The United... Read More