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Noticias de la Red Global de la Huella Ecológica

Earth Overshoot Day, a year-long conversation

This year’s message on the drastic impact of carbon on the Ecological Footprint afforded the campaign its biggest U.S. mainstream media coverage to date. It made its way intoNational Geographic, Newsweek, TIME andDiscovery News, among others. For the first time ever, USA Today devoted its front cover’s daily snapshot to Earth Overshoot Day, while The Washington Post finally gave the campaign a nod. Rush Limbaugh couldn’t resist giving his signature outraged opinion in a long rant targeted at eco-conscious Millennials.In 2015 Earth Overshoot Day raised global public awareness of natural resource constraints to new heights. More than 30 organizations joined our efforts to spread the word about natural resource constraints on thenew website overshootday.org, helping raise Earth Overshoot Day-related page views by 18 percent over last year.

In India, leading daily The Hindu published a joint op-ed of Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, president of Global Footprint Network, and Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati, the former Chairman of the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA).

Word traveled to Chile and Australia, and many places in between, including Brazil,Argentina, Africa and the United Arab Emirates (a nation who has had a long commitment to sustainable development, enjoying the support of the Global Footprint Network.)

Once again, Earth Overshoot Day found its most receptive audience in Europe. In the UK,The Guardian’s article was shared by some 35,000 people on social media and received more than 460 comments. Italy’s leading national newspapers La Repubblicaand La Stampa joined the chorus. In France, where local media has been anticipating COP21, the U.N. Climate Summit scheduled to take place in Paris this December, the carbon focus of Earth Overshoot Day 2015 was widely received. Coverage in flagship national dailies Le Monde and Les Echos, as well as a dispatch by newswire Agence France Presse, helped create a flurry of more than 160 new items—including on a primetime national radio news program where Dr. Wackernagel was interviewed.

In Russia, Earth Overshoot Day caused a media buzz thanks to an original event that was conceived and executed by WWF-Russia. On August 13, readers of free daily Metro and patrons at various restaurants and shops in Moscow were handed a «bill from the planet Earth.» The initiative drew camera crews and photographers.

Stay tuned as overshootday.org grows as the platform that nurtures and expands the global conversation about natural resource constraints leading up to COP21 and beyond. And please keep supporting our effort by sharing overshootday.org on your social media as much as you are able. Two other items also worth sharing:

1) This short Earth Overshoot Day animation video by Alex Magnin: At more than 28,000 views (and counting), it is by far the most viewed of all videos produced by Sustainability Illustrated, and we believe it holds the potential to reach a much bigger audience;

2) This wonderful online exhibit of artwork curated by partner Art Works for Change just for Earth Overshoot Day.

Finally, please check out our new Ecological Footprint infographics, which let you explore our data in many different, engaging ways.

«Celebrating» U.S. Ecological Deficit Day

The global Earth Overshoot Day campaign came on the heels of a similar initiative focused on just the United States in July, when we released our first-ever State of the States report detailing the Ecological Footprint of the 50 state and the District of Columbia. Overall, the population of the United States is using twice the renewable natural resources and services that can be regenerated within its borders. The carbon footprint of the average American is substantially higher than that of citizens in many other countries, including Germany, Russia and China.

As could be expected, however, resource consumption and availability varies dramatically state by state. For instance, the states with the largest per-person Ecological Footprints are Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. Alaska, Texas and Michigan are the most resource-abundant states based on biocapacity, a measure of bioproductive land. California, Texas and Florida have the highest ecological deficits, while Alaska, South Dakota and Montana have the greatest ecological reserves. You may find thesecolorful maps by National Geographic helpful. More media coverage is here. Our full report is here.