Global Per-Capita Ecological Footprint Facts

Our fair share is 4.7 acres per person

I found the information for today's post on a website full of reasons why we should be adopting low consumption, sustainable lifestyles.

World Centric's mission is "to reduce economic injustice and environmental degradation through education, community networks, and sustainable enterprises".

The state of the world that the facts represent can be a bit of a bummer to consider. But it is the critical state of things that makes each of our individual efforts toward change so much more important and powerful.

There is hope in reducing our consumption and living more gently on the Earth. Such changes support human rights, environmental protection, and the shift to sustainable ways of living.

Global Eco-Footprint Facts

• The planet's biological productive capacity (biocapacity) is approximately 1.9 hectares (4.7 acres) per person. Globally, we use up to 2.2 hectares per person. Thus, we are living beyond the planet's biocapacity to sustain us by 15%, a deficit of 0.3 hectares (1 acre) per person. This deficit is apparent, as natural ecosystems around us fail one by one - forest systems, oceans, fisheries, coral reefs, rivers, soil, water, global warming etc.

•  The planet's biocapacity is dependent on the global population and rate of consumption. High consumption depletes the planet's carrying capacity. Estimates indicate that, if global population trends continue, the ecological footprint available to each person would be reduced to 1.5 hectares per person, by 2050. 

• If consumption rates as high as the western countries are adopted by the majority of humanity, then we would need 4 to 5 more planets to sustain ourselves.

• If everyone on the planet was to live like the average American, we would need 5 planets to sustain everyone. At a footprint of 10 hectares per person, our planet's biocapacity would only be able support about 1.2 billion people - far less than the 6 billion we have on Earth. 

• On the other end of the spectrum, if everyone lived like those residing in Bangladesh, where the average footprint is only 0.5 hectares, then the earth could support roughly 22 billion people.

For more information, and to see where your country ranks in Per Capita Eco-Footprint, see the World Centric website.