Flowers of the Field by Phil Porter
Ecological Footprint: The area of land and water ecosystems required to produce resources that the population consumes, and to assimilate the wastes that the population produces.
Ecological Footprint & Sustainability EnvironmentSocialEconomy Traditional view of sustainability: 3-Tiers
Ecological Footprint & Sustainability Environment Social Economy Ecological footprint view of sustainability
Components of the Ecological Footprint (6 human activities that require space) 1. Growing Crops 2. Grazing Animals 3. Harvesting Timber 4. Catching Fish 5. Accommodating Infrastructure (housing, transportation systems, industry, built up land…) 6. Absorbing Carbon Dioxide Emissions (burning fossil fuels)
The Bottom Line There are about 2.3 hectares of biologically productive land and sea per person BUT... set aside 12% to protect biodiversity = 2.0 hectares per person
Global Context United States – 9.7 ha/capita Canada – 8.4 ha/capita - NS ha/capita - AB ha/capita France – 5.3 ha/capita Japan – 4.8 ha/capita Zimbabwe – 1.3 ha/capita Bangladesh – 0.5 ha/capita Global Average: 2.3 hectares/capita
Tracking the ecological overshoot of the human economy, by Wackernagel et.al., PNAS, July 9, 2002
Who has the biggest footprint? Countries such as the United States, Australia, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Sweden occupy footprints over 200% greater than the 2.0 ha available per global citizen. This is dramatically contrasted to Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Pakistan, India, and Nigeria with footprints of 1 ha or less per capita.
THE RICHEST FIVE: account for 86% of total private consumption expenditures the poorest five 1.3%. consume 45% of all meat and fish the poorest five 5% consume 58% of total energy the poorest five less than 4% consume 84% of all paper the poorest five 1.1% own 87% of the world’s vehicle fleet the poorest five less than 1% (UNDP, 1998).
WHAT CAN YOU DO? List 5 ways you might reduce your ecological footprint. Go to to calculate your own ecological footprint.