Resource Constraints in the Mediterranean Region: Exploring the Links Between Ecological and Economic Crises
Growing demands on the Mediterranean region’s ecosystems threaten the foundation of its social and economic well-being, the international think tank Global Footprint Network reports in a two-year study whose findings will be released at an international conference here on October 1. Global Footprint Network’s report, Mediterranean Ecological Footprint Trends, show an ever widening ecological deficit. Between 1961 and 2008, the most recent year data were available, growing population and consumption trends tripled the region’s demand for renewable resources and ecological services. By 2008, the region’s Ecological Footprint—the demand on Earth’s bioproductive land and sea areas—exceeded local available ecological assets by more than 150 percent. (more...)
Global Footprint Network, Oakland, CA, September 19, 2012
August 22nd was Earth Overshoot Day
Humanity has surpassed nature’s budget for the year, and is now operating in overdraft, according to data from Global Footprint Network, an international research organization with offices in California and Europe. Earth Overshoot Day (from a concept devised by the UK think tank new economics foundation) helps conceptualize the gap between what nature can regenerate, and how much is required to support human activities. Similar to the way a bank statement tracks income against expenditures, Global Footprint Network tracks humanity’s demand for, and supply of, natural resources and ecological services. Global Footprint Network’s calculations show that in just over eight months, we have used up the resources and CO2 sequestration that the planet can sustainably provide this year. For the rest of the year, we will maintain our ecological deficit by depleting resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Global Footprint Network, Oakland, CA, August 22, 2012
Ecological Footprint Creators Drs. William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel Win Prestigious Blue Planet
The Asahi Glass Foundation has selected Drs. William E. Rees (Canada), Mathis Wackernagel (Switzerland) and Thomas Lovejoy (USA) to receive this year’s Blue Planet Prize, the international environmental award, now in its 21st year. Two Blue Planet Prizes are awarded to individuals or organizations that make outstanding achievements in scientific research and its application in helping to solve global environmental problems. Global Footprint Network, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 17, 2012 Building on Rees’ earlier work on human carrying capacity, Wackernagel and Rees in the early 1990s developed the Ecological Footprint, the world’s premier resource accounting system, to track humanity’s demands on nature. The Ecological Footprint measures the area of productive land and water, or "biocapacity," required to produce the resources a human population consumes and to absorb its carbon waste.
Global Footprint Network, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 17, 2012
Ecological Footprint Creators Drs. Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees Winners of Prestigious Kenneth E. Boulding Award
Drs. Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees, co-creators of the Ecological Footprint, will receive the 2012 Kenneth E. Boulding Award, the world’s top honor in the field of ecological economics. The biennial award is given to “outstanding individuals who have contributed original and seminal approaches that have furthered our understanding of the interfaces between the social, ecological, ethical, economic and political dimensions of our world,” the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE) said in announcing the award.
Global Footprint Network, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 04, 2012
Global Auction for Natural Resources Heats Up
Humanity is using resources and emitting waste (particularly carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning) at a rate 52 percent faster than the Earth can sustain, according to new Global Footprint Network data released today in conjunction with WWF's Living Planet Report 2012. The data is one of the primary indicators used in the WWF report, launched today from the International Space Station by André Kuipers, a European Space Agency astronaut.
Global Footprint Network, Oakland, CA, USA, May 15, 2012
Club of Rome urges us to 'Change the Course' of History before its too late
Help us change the course of history before it is too late, urges new Club of Rome campaign. The Club of Rome’s new ‘Change the Course’ campaign encourages committed and young people to participate in a web-based project to design the world they want.
Club of Rome, Winterthur, Switzerland, April 14, 2012
Securing Competitiveness for the Mediterranean: Save the Date
Please join Global Footprint Network, UNESCO and the MAVA Foundation for the official launch of the Mediterranean Ecological Footprint Trends report and workshops addressing the economic implications of resource constraints in the Mediterranean region. Participants, will gather at the historic Palazzo Zorzi for a rare opportunity to share their expertise and perspectives on an issue of critical importance to the region's stability and prosperity. Government finance, planning and environment representatives, NGOs and academics who wish to better understand the link between economic and environmental crises will especially value the two-day conference.
Global Footprint Network, MAVA Foundation & UNESCO, Venice, Italy, April 10, 2012
Turkey’s Ecological Balance Sheet is Out!
WWF-Turkey prepared Turkey’s Ecological Footprint Report with the view that what is not measured, can not be managed. The report, prepared in collaboration with the Global Footprint Network and with support from the MAVA Foundation and Garanti Bank, was shared with decision makers, opinion leaders, private sector representatives and the public at a high level meeting with the participation of Mathis Wackernagel, the president of Global Footprint Network, on the 6th of March 2012, in SALT Galata, Istanbul.
WWF Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey, March 06, 2012
Global Footprint Network Named One of World's Top 100
The Global Journal, a leading international publication that covers the issues and major players of global governance, named the sustainability think tank Global Footprint Network as one of the world's 100 Best NGOs this week.
Global Footprint Network, Geneva, Switzerland, January 24, 2012
Wackernagel at the European Parliament: Is the European Meltdown a Euro Crisis or a Resource Crunch?
New Principles for Economic Success in the Era of Resource Efficiency and Biocapacity Constraints (Brussels) – With the recent food and energy crises, it has become even more evident that the 21st century will be shaped by ecological constraints. The question is: what’s the link between the current Euro crisis and these emerging resource constraints? At today’s STOA lecture at the European Parliament, Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, President of Global Footprint Network, will reveal the latest research results documenting the role of the resource constraints in shaping the current financial crisis.
Global Footprint Network, Brussels, Belgium, November 28, 2011
New Framework for Government Bonds to Incorporate Ecological Risks
Early this week, the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) in collaboration with Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability think tank, and leading financial institutions, will endeavor to shine a light on these questions with the launch a groundbreaking project to explore the role of natural resource accounting in strengthening risk models for government bonds.
Global Footprint Network, Washington D.C., USA, October 14, 2011
Top Environmental Prize Honors Ecological Footprint Pioneer
The Zayed International Prize for the Environment, one of the world's most prestigious sustainability awards, will honor its five recipients next Monday, March 14, in Dubai. Dr Habib Al Habr, Regional Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, described the prize as the most important environmental award given to champions and pioneers in this field.
Global Footprint Network, Dubai, UAE, March 03, 2011
Humanity Now Needs 1.5 Earths: Living Planet Report
Biodiversity is suffering continued declines as human demand outstrips nature’s regenerative capacity at an alarming rate, report shows.
Global Footprint Network, Oakland, Calif., U.S.A, October 13, 2010
September 23 is Earth Overshoot Day: The Day Our Demand Surpasses Nature's Budget
On September 23, humanity will have used up all the new resources nature will provide this year, according to Global Footprint Network data. (more...)
Global Footprint Network, Oakland, CA, September 19, 2008