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possible, for a limited time, by depleting stocks of ecological
capital (harvesting resources faster than they are regenerated)
and/or by exceeding the sink capacity of the biosphere, resulting
in the accumulation of waste in the atmosphere, oceans and
soil. Overall projections of future human demand on the Earth’s
biocapacity, based on aggregating moderate UN scenarios of
population growth, food demand and energy use, conclude that by
2050 humanity’s Ecological Footprint would be 2.5 to three times
the planet’s biocapacity. It is unclear whether such overuse can be
physically achieved, and if it can, how long this level of overshoot
can persist (FAO 2002; FAO 2006; UN DESA 2006, WWF
et al.
2008).
In addition to analyzing the Ecological Footprint by the type of
productive area on which demand is being placed, Footprints
can also be determined for consumption categories, such as
food. The “foodprint” includes all the biocapacity required not
only to grow food such as crops, livestock and fish, but also
to absorb the emissions from the fossil fuel used to create
fertilizer, run farmmachinery, process, transport and store food.
The demand for food is amongst the greatest drivers of land use
change (Lambin and Meyfroidt 2010). Land use change also
adds to humanity’s Footprint through the release of additional
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The average “foodprint” today is at least 0.66 global hectares
per person, which corresponds to more than one-third of
the Earth’s biocapacity, or about one-fourth of humanity’s
Ecological Footprint (calculations based on Global Footprint
Network, 2013). Cropland represents the largest portion of the
global foodprint (nearly two thirds), while fish consumption
makes up about 10 per cent of the overall biocapacity demand
of food.
Food consumption varies in both amount and composition in
different parts of the world. Germans, for example, consume
about 3 539 kcal/person/day, with 30 per cent coming from
meat and dairy (FAO 2014b). Their “foodprint” of a little over
one global hectare per person constitutes 20 per cent of their
total Footprint measuring five global hectares per capita. In
contrast, lower-income countries typically have smaller per
capita Footprints, but a larger percentage devoted to food.
Bangladesh, for example, with a food consumption of 2 430
kcal/person/day and only 4 per cent coming from meat and
dairy (FAO 2014b), has a “foodprint” of 0.3 global hectares per
capita, which is nearly half of its total Footprint of 0.65 global
hectares per capita (calculations based on Global Footprint
Network 2013).
Footprint and population are growing faster than the Earth’s biocapacity
Baseline
50
0
-50
100
150
Growth rate percentage
World
population
World
biocapacity
1961
1970
1975
1965
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2009
World ecological
footprint
Source: Global Footprint Network, 2013