World map of countries by ecological deficit (2013)

The Global Footprint Network was founded in 2003 and is an independent

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...

originally based in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It was established as a charitable not-for-profit organization in each of those three countries. Its aim is to develop and promote tools for advancing sustainability, including the

ecological footprint The ecological footprint is a method promoted by the Global Footprint Network to measure human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an economy. It tracks this demand through an ecological accounti ...

and

biocapacity The biocapacity or biological capacity of an ecosystem is an estimate of its production of certain biological materials such as natural resources, and its absorption and filtering of other materials such as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. B ...

, which measure the amount of resources we use and how much we have. These tools aim at bringing ecological limits to the center of decision-making.

Work

Global Footprint Network's goal is to create a future where all humans can live well, within the means of one planet

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

. The organization is headquartered in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The Network brings together over 70 partner organizations, including WWF International,

ICLEI ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (or simply ICLEI) is an international non-governmental organization that promotes sustainable development. ICLEI provides technical consulting to local governments to meet sustainability objectives. ...

, Bank Sarasin,

The Pictet Group The Pictet Group, known as Pictet, is a Swiss multinational private bank and financial services company founded in Switzerland. Headquartered in Geneva, it is one of the largest Swiss banks and primarily offers services in wealth management, ass ...

, the New Economics Foundation, Pronatura México, and the

Environment Agency Abu Dhabi The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) is a governmental agency established in 1996 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) tasked with environmental protection matters in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. History In 1989, the National Avian Res ...

National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts

Every year, Global Footprint Network produced a new edition of its National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts, which calculate Ecological Footprint and

of more than 200 countries and territories from 1961 to the present. Based on up to 15,000 data points per country per year, these data have been used to influence policy in more than a dozen countries, including Ecuador, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Russia, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. Since 2019, the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts are produced in collaboration between Global Footprint Network,

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and sta ...

, and Footprint Data Foundation. The 2022 Edition of the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts cover 1961-2018 (latest UN data available), and incorporate data from the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

, the UN Comtrade database, the

International Energy Agency The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the entire global energy sector, with a recent focus on curbing car ...

, and over 20 other sources.

Ecological Footprint Explorer

In April 2017, Global Footprint Network launched the Ecological Footprint Explorer, an

open data Open data is data that is openly accessible, exploitable, editable and shared by anyone for any purpose. Open data is licensed under an open license. The goals of the open data movement are similar to those of other "open(-source)" movements ...

platform for the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts. The website provides

results for over 200 countries and territories, and encourages researchers, analysts, and decision-makers to visualize and download data.

Earth Overshoot Day

Previously known as Ecological Debt Day,

Earth Overshoot Day Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) is the calculated illustrative calendar date on which humanity's resource consumption for the year exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources that year. The term " overshoot" represents the level by which ...

is the day when humanity has exhausted nature's budget for the year. For the rest of the year, society operates in ecological overshoot by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The first Earth Overshoot Day was December 19, 1987. In 2014, Earth Overshoot Day was August 19. The Earth Overshoot Day in 2015 was on August 13 and on August 8 in 2016. In 2017, Earth Overshoot Day landed on August 2, and in 2020 on August 22.

Founding

In 2003,

Mathis Wackernagel Mathis Wackernagel is a Swiss-born sustainability advocate. He is President of Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability think tank with offices in Oakland, California; Brussels, Belgium, and Geneva, Switzerland. The think-tank ...

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

, and Susan Burns founded Global Footprint Network, an international think-tank headquartered in Oakland, California, with offices in Geneva and Brussels. Wackernagel received an honorary doctorate in December 2007 from the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...

Leadership

* Co-Founder & President: Dr.

* Co-Founder: Susan Burns * Chief Executive Officer: Laurel Hanscom * Chief Science Officer: Dr. David Lin * Director, Marketing & Communications: Amanda Diep * Director, Mediterranean and MENA Regions: Dr. Alessandro Galli * Board Chair: Keith Tuffley * Honorary Chair: Swiss entrepreneur and investor André Hoffmann

Awards and honours

* World Sustainability Award 2018 * International Association for Impact Assessment's Global Environment Award 2015 * RECYCLAPOLIS National Sustainability Award 2015 * ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame Inductees Susan Burns and Mathis Wackernagel 2014 * Prix Nature Swisscanto 2013 * Global Footprint Network was recognized as one of the top 100 NGOs worldwide by the Global Journal in 2012 and 2013. * Blue Planet Prize 2012 * Boulding Award 2012 * Binding Prize 2012Willkommen bei der Binding Stiftung ...

References and further reading

External links

* * * {{authority control International research institutes Sustainability organizations International sustainability organizations Organizations established in 2003 Organizations promoting population moderation Environmental organizations based in the United States Population organizations