Introduction to Resources and Ecological Footprint

"Geography is the study of The Earth as the home of people" Yi-Fu Tuan 1991 Its about people and the decisions people make in their lives. How place affects people’s decisions and how people’s decisions affect the place we live.

So what is our relationship with our home, the Earth?

The global economy is now so large that society can no longer safely pretend it operates within a limitless ecosystem. Developing an economy that can be sustained within the finite biosphere requires new ways of thinking. Hernan Daly 2005

Sustainable Development Sustainable development – is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. http://www.un-documents.net/ocf-ov.htm#I.3

Sustainable Development requires a change in mindset BUT decisions are generally made by companies and politicians. Companies have an obligation to shareholders to make profits. They work on a short term time scale having to publish annual reports on their performance. Politicians in democracies are accountable to their electorates. They work on a political timescale relating to elections every five years.

It could be argued that it is human nature to respond to the immediate threat and work to protect ones family. This argument is used to justify short term decision making and decisions which are taken for self interest.

Think on a different timescales Human Lifespan and future generations. The concept of intergenerational equity is fundamental to sustainability. Biological timescale. The time taken for an ecosystem to regenerate to its climatic climax. Hundred years for deciduous woodland, thousands of years for tropical rainforest. And try to comprehend Geological timescale. The Earth has been in existence for 4.5 billion years. Humans have lived on this Earth for a tiny fraction of that time. 400,000 years. Fossil fuels and minerals are considered finite because they formed over millions of years.

But it is possible for people to work for a common purpose and for a purpose on a timescale beyond a human lifespan.

How can we measure our impact on the environment? Future generations should not inherit a degraded Earth; without natural resources, biodiversity or functioning climate and ecosystems and with high levels of pollution. How can we measure our impact on the environment?

Ecological footprint Our impact on the environment can be measured using ecological footprint. It represents the amount of biologically productive land and sea area needed to regenerate the resources a human population consumes and to absorb and render harmless the corresponding waste.

The question is, are we using up resources faster than the Earth can regenerate them? Weekly food shop for an average German family. $500

USA : 346$ per week

Chad : $1,62 per week

Ecological Footprint per Country as a Proportion of Global Total USA high due to high consumption levels, China and India high mainly due to high populations.

Ecological Footprints of different countries Red = Highest per capita footprints Living Planet Report WWF

But how are we doing as a global population overall? If we all lived like the average person form the USA we would need 5 Earths. But how are we doing as a global population overall? Nef 2009

Not good! Our current global situation: Since the mid 1980s, humanity has been in ecological overshoot with annual demand on resources exceeding what Earth can regenerate each year. It now takes the Earth one year and four months to regenerate what we use in a year. (Global Footprint Network)

Consumption explosion Population explosion This is because of two main factors; Consumption explosion Population explosion Relying on continuously improving technology to avoid or at least postpone catastrophe.

Biocapacity Biocapacity is the amount of productive land and sea (measured in hectares 100mx100m) which is available for use. Two factors affect biocapacity. 1 – The AREA of land/sea available. How much is there? The land area cultivated by humans is increasing leaving less land in its natural state. eg rainforests being cut down for palm oil cultivation. This leaves less forest to absorb our carbon emissions. 2 – The BIOPRODUCTIVITY of that land/sea. Yield? With careful management land can be cultivated without it being degraded. Technology can be used to increase yields. High Yield Varieties of crops, GM, mechanisation, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation. But it must be noted that tech inputs can increase the ecological footprint due to increased energy consumption.

Ecological Footprint Population Consumption per Person More people consume more resources. High growth rates in lower income countries is the main factor increasing the Ecological Footprint in those areas. Consumption per Person Continued economic growth means ever larger economies producing more and increasingly affluent people consuming more, using more resources and producing more waste leading to increasing Ecological Footprint. Resource and Waste Intensity How efficiently are resources used? Our ability to extract a greater amount of wealth from the resources we use. (new technologies, energy efficiencies, renewable energy, reusing and recycling, green design)