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BALANCING OUR ECOLOGICAL IMPACT

Writer: Jaime Ventura Energy ConsultantJaime Ventura Energy Consultant

Updated: Feb 27

HARNESSING SUSTAINABILITY WITH THE INTEGRATION COEFFICIENT IC


Green footprints with eco-icons and "CO2 FOOTPRINT" text on dark background. "BALANCING OUR ECOLOGICAL IMPACT" in yellow at top.

The ecological footprint is a way of measuring humanity's impact on the planet.


It is the ecologically productive surface area needed to produce the resources consumed by an individual and the area necessary to absorb the waste it generates.


The ecological footprint calculations use all lifestyle factors, whether or not they emit greenhouse gases (CO2), which are harmful to the environment, and are used as an international sustainability indicator to measure the impact of our habits. It is expressed in global hectares (hag).


Thus, on average, a European would need 4.5 hga, while a North American would need 6.6 hga and an African 2.7. But more important is the average by region. And even more important is balancing our ecological impact, all altogether.


By 2021, the 5 countries with the largest ecological footprint in hga were China, 5.2 billion; the U.S., 2.6 billion; India, 1.5 billion; Russia, 740 million and Brazil 580 million. Meanwhile, the total ecological footprint of the EU (as a whole) reaches 2.3 billion, the 3rd place compared to the other countries, with Spain contributing 187 million.


Although China has a total ecological footprint twice as large as that of the U.S. and EU, the ecological footprint per person of the U.S. and EU is much larger because China has more population than the U.S. and EU, which means that consumption per person in the U.S. and EU is much higher.


Each region contributes “to environmental deterioration” in different ways: the pronounced growth of the ecological footprint in China responds mainly to carbon dioxide emissions and the ecological footprint of farmland. Brazil has one of the largest biocapacity reserves in the world, however, it has decreased steadily in recent decades, while the demand for raw materials at the national and international level has increased. Russia's ecological footprint has decreased as a result of partial de-industrialization derived from the dissolution of the USSR and the decrease in the use of coal. Despite this, Russia's per capita ecological footprint remains considerably higher than the world's average per capita biocapacity.


By 2023, the Global Footprint Network estimated humanity's ecological footprint on 1.71 planet Earths, indicating that humanity's demands were 1.71 times more than what was renewing the planet's ecosystems.


In recent decades, human development has advanced at the expense of the planet. We need to make changes if prosperity is to be achieved for all within the boundaries of our planet.


To do this, it is essential to change our lifestyle, adopting new habits such as:



Let's do it together. Please Contact Us for more information.

 
 
 

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