The Ecological Footprint - An Indicator for Sustainable Development

How much area do we need?

Graphical representation of a footprint

Every human being needs space in order to develop. But we also need fields, pastures and meadows to grow our food. We need industrial plants to produce our goods and we need vehicles and roads for our own transport and that of our goods. The amount of area someone needs depends on his/her consumer behaviour.

William Rees from Canada and Mathis Wackernagel from Switzerland developed the Model of the Ecological Footprint. The ecological footprint indicates by way of hectares how much area someone needs due to his/her consumer behaviour and for the satisfaction of his/her needs.

How much area is actually available?

If the world’s entire usable surface were to be divided equally among all human beings, the result would be a value of 1.8 hectares or 18,000 square metres. This is equivalent to the size of 3.5 football fields.

Currently the worldwide average ecological footprint amounts to 2.2 hectares per person. In other words: we use up more area than is available. The one planet earth is not big enough to satisfy our needs the way we are satisfying them today. We not only live off the interest payments but we are already living off the "ecological capital". The ecological footprint proves that our current consumption is not sustainable.

In future our needs will have to be satisfied in a way which ensures that we make ends meet with the area available. For this reason we try for instance to reduce CO2 emissions and to promote organic farming and local supply chains.

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Environmental Protection (Municipal Department 22)
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