What Is the Ecological Footprint?

This assessment demonstrates our consumption behavior. The more responsible we are in our consuming habits, the smaller our ecological footprint and therefore the closer we become to sustainable development. If we were all to consume like North Americans, we would need four Earths to sustain our consumption.

If the ecological footprint were equally distributed, the planet would provide 2.5 hectares per person. However, due to the inequality of wealth distribution across the planet, the reality is that this number varies greatly. Europeans consume an average of 5.3 hectares, North Americans 9.6, and Africans consume much less with an ecological footprint of only 1.3 hectares.

This assessment demonstrates our consumption behavior. The more responsible we are in our consuming habits, the smaller our ecological footprint and therefore the closer we become to sustainable development. If we were all to consume like North Americans, we would need four Earths to sustain our consumption.