Earth overshoot day: 4 planets needed if everyone consumed like the Dutch
With five months left in 2024, humanity has already used up all the resources the Earth could provide in a year, according to the Global Footprint Network. The organization has therefore declared today Earth Overshoot Day. After this day, the world is living on credit, so to speak. According to the non-profit organization, 1.7 Earths would be needed to maintain the current level of consumption. That is the global average. If everyone were to live like the average Dutch person, four Earths would be needed, according to the organization.
Earth Overshoot Day falls one day earlier this year than last year, when the calculations came out on August 2. The day on which the ‘ecological goods and services’ that the Earth produces in a year are used up has not shifted much in recent years. There was a small trend break in 2020 when many economies were operating at a lower level than usual due to coronavirus lockdowns. Then the day fell on August 16.
The last time supply and demand were almost in balance was in 1971, according to later calculations. In that year, Overshoot Day fell on Christmas Day, December 25.
Over a longer period, overconsumption has increased structurally, causing Earth Overshoot Day to fall earlier and earlier in the year. This overconsumption must eventually stop. “The question is how: by planning or by disaster,” said the Global Footprint Network director Lewis Akenji. He advocates for a “planned transition” to a world that uses no more than the earth can replenish.
“Even if the date is marked down, the pressure on the planet will continue to increase, as the damage resulting from overshoot accumulates over time,” the organization said. Its calculations are based on an international database in which the “biocapacity” of countries is structurally recorded. This takes account of the food and raw materials that the earth provides and the waste that people produce. It also includes CO2 emissions, which nature cannot absorb completely.
