'Earth Overshoot' Day Is Coming Sooner And Sooner

If everyone lived like the inhabitants of the countries highlighted on our map, one Earth would suffice to meet the needs of humanity.

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But, as Statista's Martin Armstrong points out, as for the lifestyles of the 140 or so remaining countries, the ecological footprint exceeds the planet's biocapacity, i.e. all the natural resources the Earth can regenerate (and the waste it can absorb) in the space of a year.

An observation that highlights the pressure exerted by human activities on ecosystems.

According to calculations by the NGO Global Footprint Network, as of August 2, 2023, humanity will have already consumed all the resources the planet can replenish in one year. Earth Overshoot Day arriving earlier and earlier, moving from as late as December 30 in 1970.

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Humanity is thus living "on credit", and it would take 1.75 Earths to meet the needs of the world's population in 2022. Compared to this global average, the inhabitants of a country like France or Germany have an ecological footprint almost twice as high.

The concept of Earth Overshoot Day was first conceived by Andrew Simms of the UK think tank New Economics Foundation, which partnered with Global Footprint Network in 2006 to launch the first global Earth Overshoot Day campaign. WWF, the world’s largest conservation organization, has participated in Earth Overshoot Day since 2007.To find out more about the calculations behind Earth Overshoot Day, please click here.