Overshoot day is the time when human demand for resources exceeds the Earth's capacity to generate them over the course of a year. The parameters used by the Global Footprint Network to calculate Earth Overshoot Day are the Earth's biocapacity and the human ecological footprint. In a market logic, the former would correspond to the supply while the latter to the demand. The Earth's biocapacity, in fact, represents the ability of ecosystems to regenerate what is demanded of them by humans, which in turn corresponds to the concept of ecological footprint, introduced by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees in their book Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth in 1996. These parameters, however, are very complex to calculate. In fact, according to Earth Overshoot Day, it takes about ‘6,000 point-in-time data on production, imports and exports of foodstuffs (both plant and animal), forest products, fishery resources, energy resources and fossil fuels’ to obtain them; a calculation that must then be repeated for 160 nations over a five-year period.
An analysis of the dates of resource depletion in past years shows a clear downward trend. Indeed, whereas in 1971 we were almost in a balanced situation, this year overshoot day fell on the first of August, signalling a growing imbalance between resource consumption and the planet's regenerative capacity. This trend is definitely worrying and puts black on white the need for a drastic change of course in the behaviour of mankind and its activities.
Faced with this deterioration, the world community has convened conferences and summits on the subject and promoted initiatives to counter the crisis. These include the Paris Agreement signed in 2015 by 194 countries, which translates into a commitment to limit the global temperature rise to below 2 degrees and to protect agents that absorb greenhouse gases, such as forests. In the same year¸ as a continuation of Agenda 21, the 2030 Agenda was drafted, with 17 Goals and 167 targets to be achieved, including the fight against climate change (Agenda 2030). One actor that is moving to the forefront is the organisation Global Footprint Network, which has promoted the campaign Move The Date in order to slow down, if not reverse, the pace of consumption thus living in balance within the ecological limits of the planet (the link below shows all the initiatives inspired by the campaign: Move The Date).
However, these measures appear insufficient if we consider that the countries most responsible for carbon dioxide emissions, while adhering to the agreements, do not apply an adequate commitment to the targets set. This is the case with the United States, China, Russia and India, which have been criticized for not having a sufficiently ambitious plan with respect to the challenges of the present.
Another aspect to consider is the socio-economic differences in the ecological footprint, particularly those between developed and developing countries. As Earth Overshoot Day reports, in 2024, the richest and most developed countries were the first to run out of resources, while we see that countries such as Ecuador, Jamaica and Iraq have a lower ecological footprint. (Source: Earth Overshoot Day). It is evident that nowadays there are countries that can be held more responsible for the reckless use of resources, while others seem to have to pay the consequences of economic growth and prosperity that does not affect them. This dichotomy is also central to the debate on the right to development. Indeed, sustainable development was defined in the Brundtland report as the possibility of future generations to enjoy the same opportunities as those of present and past generations. However, the achievement of emission reduction targets seems to limit the growth opportunities of countries that have not yet experienced their expansion phase.
To create a society that reflects the principles of sustainability, also from an ethical point of view, it is essential to find solutions and compromises between the desire for growth and the need for degrowth. The synthesis between sustainability and development is crucial for building a balanced and responsible future.
Angela Pia Zizzamia
Beatrice Fontana