What is the Ecological Footprint?

To understand the impacts of consumption habits and ensure sustainability, it is important to know the amount of natural land owned. Indeed, the excessive use of limited resources can lead to irreversible environmental problems. At this point, the concept of ecological footprint comes into play to help understand inequalities in resource consumption and measure human-induced environmental damage. Let's delve into all the details about the ecological footprint together.

What is the Ecological Footprint?

To survive, humans must meet basic needs such as eating, drinking, warming, and shelter. Doing so involves utilizing plant- and animal-based foods, forestry, and urban infrastructure products. The Earth tries with all its might to replenish the ecological resources consumed. This balance has altered with the rise in production and consumption activities of industrialized societies, as industrialization has caused nature to fall short in meeting human demand, leading to the gradual disruption of the ecological balance.

As a result, in the 1990s, sustainability advocate Mathis Wackernagel and ecologist William Rees introduced the concept of the ecological footprint. To devise solutions that reduce and, if possible, completely eliminate human-induced damage to nature, it was first necessary to calculate how much we consume. The ecological footprint has been used to calculate the geographic area required to reproduce the resources used and dispose of waste.

The ecological footprint is concerned with measuring the demand and supply of natural resources. It measures the ecological assets needed to replenish the natural resources consumed by individuals or societies and to absorb the resulting waste. To sustain life and leave a habitable planet for future generations, it emphasizes the concept of sustainability and begins by measuring biocapacity. Biocapacity can be briefly defined as the power of a geographical region to produce natural resources, for which the ecological footprint will be calculated.

An ecological footprint can be calculated for individuals, communities, countries, or institutions. Each has an ecological footprint that reveals their impact on the environment and how many natural resources they consume. Clothes purchased more than necessary, food where half goes to waste, and consumption habits that cross national borders are examples of reasons why individual ecological footprints increase.

If a population's ecological footprint exceeds its biocapacity, a biocapacity deficit occurs. This can be explained with an example: The goods and services needed by a community living in a city are well-defined. All of these are provided by the land and water of that city. If the demand for this city's natural assets exceeds the amount the ecosystem can renew, a biocapacity deficit is formed.

Why is the Ecological Footprint Important?

Thanks to the ecological footprint, the natural resources used and current capacity can be determined to measure how much this limit is exceeded. Consequently, necessary conservation methods can be implemented. Indeed, when a region with an ecological deficit begins importing its needs to meet demand, it also starts destroying its own assets and releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Virtual World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Turkey) announced in 2022 that we were using 75% more of the natural resources than the Earth offers us. In other words, we are living as if we have 1.75 Earths, consuming it and not giving it time to regenerate. If consumption habits continue in this manner, we may need 2 planets by 2030 and 2.8 planets by 2050.

For this reason, every year on Earth Overshoot Day, when our planet's biocapacity is completely used up, efforts are made to raise awareness of the ecological footprint. Earth Overshoot Day represents the situation where the capacity of resources that the Earth can renew in a year is exceeded. The day, calculated as December 25 in 1971, was declared as August 2 in 2023 due to increasing uncontrolled consumption. It has been determined that Turkey consumes its resources almost 40 days earlier than the global average, and Turkey's Overshoot Day was calculated as June 22.

As these awareness studies also show, excessive consumption habits that do not allow nature to regenerate may cause water, energy, and food shortages in the near future. Moreover, the ecological footprint is also one of the fundamental causes of biodiversity loss.

Measuring the ecological footprint and raising its awareness in societies also positively affects global sustainability. In this framework, it is important to establish the ecological areas needed by both humans and other species, and to make efforts to ensure these areas are not used irreversibly.

How is the Ecological Footprint Calculated?

The ecological footprint and biocapacity are expressed in global hectares (gha) and are determined by the following formula:

Ecological Footprint (gha) = Consumption x Production Area x Population

(ha: Hectare = 10,000 m²)

To perform the calculation, the measurement of consumer goods usage is determined first. For instance, the weight in kilograms of consumed food, liters of water, Joule value of energy, and weight in tons of wood used are determined. Calculations are made separately for all indicated groups.

Then, the production area needed to sustainably meet a certain amount of consumption is calculated. At this point, five different biological productive areas are included in the calculation:

• Cropland: Areas used to produce products such as food, fiber, animal feed, oil crops, and rubber required for human consumption.

• Grazing Land: Areas needed for livestock products like meat, milk, leather, and wool.

• Forest Products: Areas used for forest products such as timber and firewood.

• Fishing Grounds: Areas related to caught seafood.

• Built-up Land: Areas covered by infrastructure, including transportation, housing, and industrial structures.

Population refers to the number of people consuming natural resources in the region where the ecological footprint is to be calculated.

The ecological footprint can be calculated separately for individuals, communities, cities, companies, countries, and the world. For example, in 2023, the per capita ecological footprint globally was calculated as 2.6 gha. In the same year, biocapacity was determined to be 1.5 gha. This means that in 2023, biocapacity was exceeded by 1.1 gha. Additionally, in 2022, the highest ecological footprint was calculated in Qatar (13.1 gha/person) and the lowest in Rwanda (0.55 gha/person). This table demonstrates that as the level of prosperity in countries increases, their ecological footprint increases as well.

How to Reduce the Ecological Footprint?

Some of the steps that must be taken for a sustainable future and the efficient use of resources can be listed as follows:

• By developing conscious consumption habits, the consumption of products that require fewer resources in their production can be increased.

• The transport processes of food can be shortened by purchasing food from local shops and markets. This can bolster the reduction of carbon emissions.

• Approximately 18% of greenhouse gases originate from meat production. By reducing meat consumption, the emission of greenhouse gases can be decreased.

• Products made with recycled materials can be preferred.

• Innovative, nature-friendly, and technological solutions can be developed in resource usage.

• A transition can be made to what is called the circular economy model. This model considers factors such as a product's life cycle, recycling, and reuse.

• By reducing waste and environmental pollution, the excessive use of resources can be prevented. To prevent waste generation, state-supported environmental regulations and clean production practices can be implemented.

• The use of renewable energy sources can be encouraged. In this way, both the use of natural resources and carbon emissions can decrease. Renewable energy also enables effective combat against climate change.

All of these measures must start with individuals and spread to communities, institutions, and countries, eventually turning into mechanisms of international cooperation. Sharing knowledge and experience among countries, making technology publicly available, and offering financial support can help reach effective solutions for reducing the ecological footprint on a global scale.

The Ecological Footprint as a Measure of Corporate Sustainability

It is becoming increasingly important for companies to contribute to sustainable projects. For instance, a study was carried out on E7 countries, which include 7 group countries with rapidly growing and emerging capital markets. Accordingly, the impact of institutional quality on the ecological footprint was researched, yielding striking results. In the study, which also included Turkey, it was shown that as institutional quality increases, the ecological footprint decreases.

As QuickCarbon, we offer carbon footprint measurement and reporting solutions to institutions and provide carbon footprint training. With the multi-functional graphics featured in our user-friendly software, we support institutions in developing sustainable strategies. You can get in touch with us immediately to learn more about us and request a demo.