uses, such as crop land (if suitable). Nevertheless, urban agriculture is growing and
could construe a multiuse in urban areas.
The carbon Footprint is the only aspect of consumption that denotes a waste
product based on the human release of CO 2 through respiration and is affected by
human population size (and that of other animals). In addition, humans contribute to
the production of this gas through combustion processes in energy production and so
on – so that it is affected by manufacturing intensity and development level.
Therefore, the carbon Footprint should reflect the latter (industrial development)
more explicitly than the Ecological Footprint. Through acidification, it is also
possible for humans to augment CO 2 production in soils, waters, and more, as
carbonic acid develops in the presence of water. On the other hand, carbon is
consumed through vegetation growth (of trees, but also other plants, including
phytoplankton, crops, etc.). It is noteworthy to mention here that carbon sequestration is an ecosystem service. Soils capture carbon, as too do plants and animals, as an
inorganic component of ecosystems. They are known to perform an essential
ecosystem service of carbon capture and storage as a natural (physicochemical)
carbon sink. Likewise, rocks (limestone) lock away carbon in the longer term and are
also natural (physical) carbon reservoirs. Such storage is only temporary (either in
the short- or longer term) and cannot represent carbon consumption. Therefore, it is
necessary to decipher between flows and stocks of the components of this
methodology.
3.3 Ecological Overshoot
Since the 1970s, the world has been in ecological overshoot where the Ecological
Footprint exceeded biocapacity (see Fig. 3.3). This means that since then consumption (demand) has been greater than production (supply), causing ecological deficit
in some countries, especially those with low natural capital. This discrepancy
(between the Ecological Footprint and biocapacity) can present another way to
quantify the severity of ecological deficit and, thereby, provide another measure of
‘weak’ versus ‘strong’ sustainability. The Ecological Footprint is known to be higher
in developed countries due to the behaviour of such populations to consume goods
and services rather than contributing towards production in agriculture and so
on. According to Lin et al. (2018, p 9), the Ecological Footprint continues to grow
annually at a rate of 2%. In a situation of global ecological overshoot since the
1970s, this suggests that the environment has been experiencing degradation in a
situation of persistent and worsening global overshoot. However, the world’s Ecological Footprint (measured in number of Earths) has stabilised in the past (e.g. early
1970s, 1980s, 1990s into 2000) and most recently seems to have plateaued since
2010 (Fig. 3.6, based on data from the Global Footprint Network 2020). Moreover,
most recently the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in 2020 is already known to
have delayed Earth Overshoot Day by 3 weeks to August 22 (from July 29, 2019,
refer to https://www.overshootday.org/).
46
3 Biocapacity Accounting
could construe a multiuse in urban areas.
The carbon Footprint is the only aspect of consumption that denotes a waste
product based on the human release of CO 2 through respiration and is affected by
human population size (and that of other animals). In addition, humans contribute to
the production of this gas through combustion processes in energy production and so
on – so that it is affected by manufacturing intensity and development level.
Therefore, the carbon Footprint should reflect the latter (industrial development)
more explicitly than the Ecological Footprint. Through acidification, it is also
possible for humans to augment CO 2 production in soils, waters, and more, as
carbonic acid develops in the presence of water. On the other hand, carbon is
consumed through vegetation growth (of trees, but also other plants, including
phytoplankton, crops, etc.). It is noteworthy to mention here that carbon sequestration is an ecosystem service. Soils capture carbon, as too do plants and animals, as an
inorganic component of ecosystems. They are known to perform an essential
ecosystem service of carbon capture and storage as a natural (physicochemical)
carbon sink. Likewise, rocks (limestone) lock away carbon in the longer term and are
also natural (physical) carbon reservoirs. Such storage is only temporary (either in
the short- or longer term) and cannot represent carbon consumption. Therefore, it is
necessary to decipher between flows and stocks of the components of this
methodology.
3.3 Ecological Overshoot
Since the 1970s, the world has been in ecological overshoot where the Ecological
Footprint exceeded biocapacity (see Fig. 3.3). This means that since then consumption (demand) has been greater than production (supply), causing ecological deficit
in some countries, especially those with low natural capital. This discrepancy
(between the Ecological Footprint and biocapacity) can present another way to
quantify the severity of ecological deficit and, thereby, provide another measure of
‘weak’ versus ‘strong’ sustainability. The Ecological Footprint is known to be higher
in developed countries due to the behaviour of such populations to consume goods
and services rather than contributing towards production in agriculture and so
on. According to Lin et al. (2018, p 9), the Ecological Footprint continues to grow
annually at a rate of 2%. In a situation of global ecological overshoot since the
1970s, this suggests that the environment has been experiencing degradation in a
situation of persistent and worsening global overshoot. However, the world’s Ecological Footprint (measured in number of Earths) has stabilised in the past (e.g. early
1970s, 1980s, 1990s into 2000) and most recently seems to have plateaued since
2010 (Fig. 3.6, based on data from the Global Footprint Network 2020). Moreover,
most recently the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in 2020 is already known to
have delayed Earth Overshoot Day by 3 weeks to August 22 (from July 29, 2019,
refer to https://www.overshootday.org/).
46
3 Biocapacity Accounting