On 2 August, 2023, our planet witnessed the ‘Earth Overshoot Day’ – the point at which we exhaust the resources Earth can regenerate in a year while also processing its waste.
- In the early 1970s, this day came at the end of December. Today, humanity will have used up all the meat, fish, cereals and forests the planet can produce and renew in a year.
- In the months that follow, the wealthier portion of our 8-billion-strong population will deplete non-renewable resources on credit, producing waste – primarily CO2 emissions – that can’t be adequately managed.
- This situation has serious consequences for the environment, the climate and our future.
- Since the early 1970s, humanity has been in an ecological deficit, according to calculations by the American think-tank Global Footprint Network (GFN), which publishes the annual “Earth Overshoot Day” report based on United Nations data.
- This global “Earth Overshoot Day” fell on 25 December in 1971, then 26 September in 1999. Six years later, in 2005, it jumped to 27 August.
- From year to year, except during the COVID-19 pandemic, this date is brought forward little by little, impacting reserves for future generations.
- In 2023, Qatar exhausted its resources in just 41 days (10 February), ahead of Luxembourg (14 February), Canada, the United Arab Emirates and the United States (13 March). Next come Australia (23 March), Belgium (26 March), Denmark (28 March), Finland (31 March) and South Korea (2 April).
