WE ARE consuming the Earth鈥檚 resources faster than they can be replenished, at least according to US think tank Global Footprint Network. It declared 9 October 鈥渙vershoot day鈥� 鈥� the point in each year when our ecological allowance for that year is spent.
GFN鈥檚 eco-audits began in 1961, and overshoot day has fallen ever earlier since its first occurrence, on 19 December 1987. Now it will take 15 months for the world to regenerate what we use in 2006.
鈥淗umanity is living off its ecological credit card and can only do this by liquidating the planet鈥檚 natural resources,鈥� says Mathis Wackernagel, GFN鈥檚 executive director. 鈥淲hile this can be done for a short while, overshoot ultimately leads to the depletion of resources such as the forests, oceans and agricultural land upon which our economy depends.鈥�
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But not everyone is pessimistic. The European Centre for International Political Economy thinks that the GFN analyses dwell on the global picture but ignore the potential for solutions. For example, says CIPE director Julian Morris, forests in richer countries tend to be managed sustainably. 鈥淏y being totally negative, [GFN] detracts from solutions that are out there.鈥�
