Beginning with a plain overview of the
ecological footprint that demonstrates how it is applied, the book next tackles the important subject of overshooting, or using more resources than the Earth can sustain.
In the figure 1 is represented the Human Development Index and
Ecological Footprint Indicator between 1980 and 2007.
"The size and composition of a nation's per capita
ecological footprint reflects the goods and services used by an average person in that country, and the efficiency with which resources, including fossil fuels, are used in providing these goods and services," said the report, which was created in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London, the Global Footprint Network and the Water Footprint Network.
The UAE's
ecological footprint has gone down to 7.75 global hectares per capita this year from 9.5 global hectares per capita in 2008 and 8.4 in 2010.
Rapidly developing countries such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates account for some the highest
ecological footprints in the world, while poorer nations such as India and Indonesia have lower footprints that are within nature's threshold.
With site work and construction under way, he adds, "The
ecological footprint of this flagship project for the cement industry in Canada and across the world will be one of the lowest in the industry."
The indicator measuring this stress is the '
ecological footprint to the bio-capacity' ratio normalized for each country.
The Welsh Government's sustainable development scheme One Wales One Planet states: "Within the lifetime of a generation, Wales should use only its fair share of the Earth's resources, and our
ecological footprint be reduced to the global average availability of resources - 1.88 global hectares per person in 2003."
Selected publications: Our
Ecological Footprint. Reducing Human Impact on the Earth (with W.
Emirates Wildlife Society -- WWF to receive the Most Sustainable NGO means a lot, we do a lot in the region to conserve our biodiversity, tackling climate change and reducing the
ecological footprint. It is always nice to know it is being recognised."
It is for this reason that the GPI needs to be supplemented by biophysical indicators, such as the
Ecological Footprint, to better indicate whether the economic welfare currently being enjoyed is sustainable.