The Four Footprints what are they & why are they important? Dr Michael Warhurst Friends of the Earth

Contents The global context Identifying the four footprints Land footprint – rising swiftly up the agenda EU progress & opportunities Conclusions

The global context Despite efforts to increase resource efficiency in Europe, our resource use continues to increase –Increases in efficiency outweighed by increases in consumption –Other developed economies are showing similar patterns Resource use is increasing rapidly in several less developed economies – notably India and China Future improvements in quality of life in other developing economies – something we should be aiming for – will also increase resource use Global population is still increasing –Global resource use is increasing rapidly

What’s the problem? We are not on a sustainable path –And this is having environmental, social & economic impacts This is about climate change… but also –Biodiversity loss, water shortages, pollution, land grabbing –Inequality, poverty, ‘natural disasters’ etc We need to change & we need tools to help

EU context on resource use 2005 – 2007: discussion of the EU’s Thematic strategy on natural resources –Key deficiency: What natural resources should we be measuring and managing? Tonnage of stuff? Environmental impact x tonnes of stuff? Without measurement it is hard to manage (& even harder to set targets) –We decided to address this issue - 5

Measuring our resource use We started a project in 2009 with Sustainable Europe Research Institute in Vienna –Included background papers, workshops etc. –Key assumptions: we must include our use of resources from everywhere in the world, but the system must be straightforward and achievable. SERI came back in 2009 with four key aspects of our resource use [1] –the Four Footprints…. 6

The Four Footprints Land footprint – the real area of land used, wherever it is in the world Carbon footprint – the total amount of climate changing gases released Water footprint – the total volume of water used, whether freshwater, rainwater or water polluted by the activity Material footprint – the tonnage of materials used, including e.g the ore mined in order to extract metals

Carbon Footprint Climate change is a massive challenge –Most acknowledge this, a few resist We must cut our carbon footprint –All greenhouse gases, whole supply chain –Not just domestic emissions – the climate doesn’t care where the emissions happen Carbon footprint is a well developed indicator, with a ISO & UK standard –Used e.g. by Committee on Climate Change

Importing carbon emissions Largest interregional fluxes of emissions embodied in trade (Mt CO2 y−1) from dominant net exporting countries (blue) to the dominant net importing countries (red). (Davis and Caldera, 2010 [2])

Water Footprint Another well established indicator –Though less than Carbon Footprint Championed by the Water Footprint Network –Used by a wide range of companies & other organisations In some areas water availability isn’t all that important – but in many places it is. 10

Imports and exports of virtual water, Source: Water Footprint Network,

Material Footprint Material metrics are well established Material footprint includes indirect flows in imported materials Eurostat has well developed accounts on Raw Material Consumption –EU ready to adopt this metric

Next planetary boundary: Land ‘Buy land, they’re not making it any more’ Mark Twain Land is a key resource – for people, biodiversity. Pretty obvious! –And we only have one planet Land has been strangely neglected –Tendency to focus on things linked to land – e.g. food, biodiversity, even soil organic carbon UNEP International Resources panel report on land [3] must change this….

A new era for Land policy “countries should monitor and control the level of their global land use for supplying their consumption” “As an interim target, and for practical reasons one may orient towards 0.20 ha of cropland (1,970 m2) per person in 2030.” EU using 0.31 ha per person, i.e. 1/3 cut needed Climate has been a clear planetary boundary, now we have land too…

What is land footprint? Land footprint is the simple area, in hectares of land: –Required to produce a product –Used by an organisation (including in its the supply chain) –Used by a country or region Land footprint is a top-level resource use indicator –It facilitates monitoring and development of targets –It encourages and assists deeper analysis of land use 15

Where our land comes from Analysis of Europe’s Land Footprint by Sustainable Europe Research Institute, Vienna (SERI) [4]

Reducing our Land footprint Ensure new policies have land footprint as part of impact assessment & act on results –E.g. Biofuels, biomass burning etc –Europe can’t increase its land footprint Change our diet –German research examined the impact of dietary change on Germany’s land balance [5]. E.g. Healthier (lower meat & dairy) diets & reduced stimulants would lead to zero net land import

Progress on land footprint New European Environment Agency work programme: –Assessments of resource efficiency in relation to land take, land recycling, and virtual land use in Europe and third countries, supplemented by direct assessment of imperviousness (soil sealing) change ( ) –Evaluation of the direct and indirect impact of EU policies on land and soil use in the EU and globally ( ) [6] DG Environment “Land as a Resource” communication –Prep studies underway, Conference 19 th June, consultation –Due out in 2015 (in theory….) NGO Land footprint coalition

Four footprints overall Can be used at all levels –Products, companies, organisations, countries, regions, impact assessment, modelling All based on real resources & quite transparent –Deliberately described as “four footprints’ or resource footprints, not ‘environment’ or ‘sustainability’ For fuller environmental coverage would add: –Pollution – excluding climate (probably an ‘index’) –Biodiversity – incorporating marine environment For sustainability, must add other aspects

Footprints & development A tool to look at both overconsumption and underconsumption –Relevant to the Sustainable Development goals debate, see paper by Bioregional & Beyond 2015 [7] Footprints link directly to many development issues: –Land footprint - land grabbing, land rights, land competition, best practice –Carbon footprint - investing in global reduction on emissions - tech transfer, best practice –Water footprint - water conflicts, best practice –Material footprint - impacts of mining, waste, best practice

Where next at EU level? Circular economy package due in May (?) –Including food, buildings, waste targets, overarching paper European Resource Efficiency Platform Multi-stakeholder platform, includes Friends of the Earth, OECD, European Commission, Unilever, German Environment Minister etc –Backed footprint approach in Summer 2013 recommendations, expected to develop this in March 31st final statement Next commission: –Land research & policy [definite] –Real substantive targets? –Routine part of impact assessment – e.g. of CAP???

Conclusions The four footprints approach builds on well-established indicators, adding in Land Footprint –The approach is becoming widely accepted –Virtual land is rapidly rising up the agenda (at last) Key policy measures needed: –Improvement of methodology and data, then toolkits –Directional targets, then more specific targets (in next Commission?) –Impact assessment of all relevant new polices – e.g. renewable energy, bio-based economy, agriculture More information: follow me on

References 1.“How to measure Europe’s Resource Use”, Sustainable Europe Research Institute for Friends of the Earth Europe, July 2009: Davis, S. J., & Caldeira, K. (2010). Consumption-based accounting of CO2 emissions. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 107(12), See ancingConsumptionw/tabid/132063/Default.aspx 4.“Europe’s global land demand”, Sustainable Europe Research Institute, Briefing: Meier, T., Christen, O., Semler, E., Jahreis, G., Voget-Kleschin, L., Schrode, A. et al. (2013). Balancing virtual land imports by a shift in the diet. Using a land balance approach to assess the sustainability of food consumption. Germany as an example. Appetite, 74C, ?utm_source=EEASubscriptions&utm_medium=RSSFeeds&utm_campaign=Generichttp:// 2018?utm_source=EEASubscriptions&utm_medium=RSSFeeds&utm_campaign=Generic 7.Eg, see “One Planet Living - The case for Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Post development agenda” consumption-and-production-in-the-post-2015-development-agenda/ 23