We busted Earth's budget!
In 2024, Earth Overshoot Day fell on August 1. Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity has exhausted nature’s budget for the year. For the rest of the year, we are maintaining our ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We are operating in overshoot.
By the Numbers
The momentum is building to #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day! The picture on the right summarizes the impacts for 2022. The button below links you to selected media stories for 2024. For more media uptake and Earth Overshoot Day tools visit the dedicated website here.
Calculate your personal Overshoot Day
Our mobile-friendly calculator is now available in eight languages. You can use it to measure your Ecological Footprint and determine your personal Earth Overshoot Day. The tool helps users learn about solutions so we can all tread more lightly on the Earth.
Methodology and Projections
Earth Overshoot Day is an estimate of when humanity has used up nature’s budget for the year. It is based on the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts. They are based on UN data, which are updated by UN agency also historically as better data gets available. Therefore the date is an approximation, not an exact date. Still, it gives a good indication how much larger human demand is than our planet’s ability to provide for all of what our economies demand.
As UN data gets updated and National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts methodology improves, estimates for Earth Overshoot Days continue to shift. But what the accounts show with clarity about human demand and nature’s regeneration rate: Humanity is well over budget, and that debt is compounding. It is an ecological debt, and the interest we are paying on that mounting debt—food shortages, soil erosion, and the build-up of CO₂ in our atmosphere—comes with devastating human and monetary costs.
For media inquiries, contact media@footprintnetwork.org.