environmental impact of individual people organisations communities Earth provides enough to satisfy every mans need but not to every mans greed Mahatma Ganndhi The Ecological Footprint is an indicator of human pressure on nature ID: 933063
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Slide1
Ecological Footprints
a way of thinking of the
environmental
impact of individual people, organisations, communities
Slide2“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not to every man’s greed”
-Mahatma
Ganndhi
The Ecological Footprint is an indicator of human pressure on nature.
Slide3Ecological Footprint
Ecological Footprints are a measure of human impact on the Earth. The footprint equals the Earth’s cost to sustain one person. It’s measured in hectares and represents the land area needed to provide resources and absorb waste and greenhouse gases produced by an individual.
Slide4Ecological Footprints
The ecological footprints given here are based on six main categories.
Arable land for cultivation of food, animal feed, fiber, oil crops, and rubber
Pasture- Grazing land for producing meat, hides, wool, and milk
Forest for harvesting timber, fuel wood, and wood fiber for paper
Sea space – for catching fish
Built-up land for accommodating infrastructure for housing, transportation, and industrial production
Land to
seqestation
Direct
CO
2
emissions from fossil fuels; indirect emissions for products manufactured abroad; gas
flaring
.
Slide5Ecological Footprint
We require …..
0.2 hectares of land for water (to drink & provide seafood)
1.6 hectares of land for farmland to grow the food we eat
0.3 hectares of land for grazing land for meat and dairy
1.4 hectares of land for timber wood and paper products
4.7 hectares of land and needed to absorb the greenhouse gases produced by driving around town, through the running of air conditioners and the import of exotic goods and foods
=
8.6 hectares
Slide6Fun stuff!
Food
Clothes
Housing
Energy!
Water…..
Waste
The more you consume, the larger your footprint will be!
Slide7How Useful
Is It?
Indicator
of
sustainability
.
Conceptual
simplicity
.
Clear
indicator
of
progress
towards
sustainability
.
Clear
indicator
of
resource
injustice
.
National
footprint
comparisons
.
Slide8Global And National Footprints
The planet’s
biocapacity is estimated at 1.9 hectares per person.Some countries are already using up 2.2 hectares per person.
The planet’s
biocapacity
is under threat due to an increasing population.
Ecosystems are being used up due to OUR actions (fisheries, oceans, forests, coral reefs, soil, water etc).
The higher the consumption by population results in a decrease of the planets’ carrying, renewal and regeneration capacities.
Slide9How Do Countries Compare?
Country
Hectares
United
States
10.3
Australia
9.0
Canada
7.8
Germany
5.3
United
Kingdom
5.2
Switzerland
5.1
China1.6India
0.8
Slide10How Do Countries
Compare?
Countries are either
:
Ecological debtors:
Larger footprints .
Changing sizes of the countries in proportion.
Could be harvesting resources unsustainably, importing goods or exporting wastes.
Ecological creditors:
Smaller footprints than biocapacity.
Biocapacity: living capacity or natural resources.
Slide11Slide12If everyone lived like the average European we would need THREE planets to live on ….
Slide13If everyone lived like the average American we would need FIVE planets to live on ….
Slide14E F scenarios
Slide15Calculation methodology
Slide16Biocapacity
and Ecological footprints
Slide17How to reduce EF
Slide18Slide19Slide20What the footprints does not measure
Slide21The Future
By 2050 the planets’ biocapacity is estimated to be reduced from 1.9 hectares per person to 1.5.
In USA (the largest footprint in the world) people are estimated to be reduced to 9.57 hectares per person.
If everyone lived like an average person in Bangladesh where the footprint is 0.5 hectares per person then the world would be able to support 22 million people.
Between 1961 and 1999, the global ecological footprint rose from 70% to 120% of the earths’ biological capacity.
By the year 2050, the global ecological footprint is predicted to grow to about 180% to 220% of the Earth’s biological capacity.
Slide22Thank You