“Ecological footprint” – WTF?

We’ve all heard the term “ecological footprint” – but what exactly is it? Who knows exactly what it means?

Most of us know that it has something to do with sustainability. Right! Sustainability expert Wolfgang Pekny has summarised the key points: what exactly an “ecological footprint” is, how we can keep it as small as possible, and what Earth Overshoot Day has to do with it.

One kilo of beef escalope leaves the same ecological footprint as around 50 kilos of potatoes. That is the equivalent of flying in an aircraft for around eight minutes, driving a good 200 kilometres in a mid-range car, or travelling roughly 2,000 kilometres by train. Alternatively, instead of this one kilo of beef escalope, you could use your smartphone for six months. This is just one example of the resources required to manufacture a single product.

And the trend in recent years – decades, even – is obvious: we are consuming ever more resources. This is due to a lack of global rules and an absence of a global resource balance sheet. But one thing is certain: Earth Overshoot Day marks the date in a given year when our demand for ecological resources exceeds what the Earth can regenerate in that year. In 2023, we crossed that line in 2 August. From that day onwards, we lived for the rest of the year at the expense of the future.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure”

The finiteness of resources is easy to explain: We only have one Earth, and it is not growing. So what the Earth can make available is physically limited, pretty much precisely defined, and does not grow in line with our increasing demand. Let’s use a visual image to show how limited our resources are: if you were to take the existing fertile soil on our planet and make it into a ball, it would have a diameter of less than 18 kilometres. This means that the weight of all vegetation is borne by a ball of humus with a diameter of less than 18 kilometres.

We must think globally about how to control the overuse of globally finite resources. The collective power of people which has grown enormously is still not balanced by any collective responsibility. Air pollution in a given country affects not only that country but may impact on the entire globe. This collective responsibility could produce a global understanding, which would work like a kind of common sense practised at global level. Taken on a small household scale, it is normal to be sparing with resources and to apportion them. This approach needs to be applied on a global scale so that we can survive globally with these scarce resources.

To achieve this, we need two measures: firstly we need to accept our common limitations and build up a global resource economy. Secondly, we need to obtain in-depth knowledge about our own impact. There is a saying: “You can’t manage what you don’t measure”. So we need measuring tools with which we can measure and quantify our own impact. One of those measuring instruments is the ecological footprint. We could say that it works like the “bookkeeping” for our planet’s limited resources. It is a small ray of light, offering us an overview of resources.

We are living beyond our means

An ecological footprint makes the limitations of the entire system tangible. It is a scientific instrument that establishes a balance sheet of available biocapacity and reveals how much natural space we are using. This balance sheet is broken down into the following categories:

• Sequestration of fossil CO2: forests, oceans, coral reefs (soils)
• Built-up areas
• Arable land: food, animal fodder, cotton, agrofuels, organic plastic, etc.
• Grazing land: meat, milk, etc.
• Forest: construction timber, furniture, firewood, paper, viscose, etc.
• Oceans/bodies of water: fish, seafood

One example of why the current reckoning is not correct and we are off-balance: the physical limits of our planet amount to 12.3 billion hectares of bioproductive land. Since we only have one planet and it is not growing in line with our lifestyle, with equal distribution we each have around 1.6 gha (global hectares) at our disposal. The average EU citizen however needs around 5 gha to satisfy their material needs, while a US citizen needs as much as 8 gha. If everybody were to live the way we do in Europe, we would need three planets. Usage incurred by our way of life exceeds the earth’s biological capacity by 60 per cent. In short: we are living beyond our means.

Understanding the impact of our own actions

Living within our means primarily entails questioning our personal lifestyles and understanding the impact that our own actions have on the world. Experience shows that we cannot rely blindly on common sense. Although this (hopefully) works very well on a small scale, it is often misleading when it comes to questions on a global scale. It is necessary to train and strengthen our global common sense.

A huge transformation of economies is also required. Global electrification with CO2-netural energy and the closure of technical circuits in order to establish a general circular economy. The starting point here is products that are close to nature, free of toxins and reusable.

We should also bear the following five rules in mind  for creating a small ecological footprint:

1. Aeroplanes: avoid flying wherever possible
2. Drive less by car, drive slower, never drive alone. Ideally use solar power.
3. Reduce consumption of meat and animal products. Choose locally produced and seasonal products instead, ideally from organic cultivation.
4. Live compactly : well-insulated, low consumption of renewable energy, be within reach of public transport, durable fit-out – for use rather than just possession.
5. Take pleasure in a good life and the good feeling of living less at the expense of others!

Lack of imagination

Our life motto should be: use less, awarely and pleasurably, and strive for an optimal life rather than a maximum life. Aware consumption of products that are close to nature and toxin-free, and that are ecologically and socially acceptable, should be key. Quality rather than quality should be central to our purchase decisions, in order to promote longevity and turn our backs on the throwaway society.

However, a sustainable way of life does not always mean going without. Who misses heating oil in a zero-energy house? Who misses toxins in their cosmetics? Who misses tons of CO2 when using public transport? In order to change something permanently, it is first and foremost essential to understand:

what we are lacking for a sustainable world is not resources and energy. What we are primarily lacking is the imagination to picture a different world.