Earth Overshoot Day, which gives us a measure of the rate at which we are consuming the planet's resources, has returned to exactly pre-pandemic levels.
Every day, silently, our planet gives us countless resources that are fundamental to our survival as a species and to our economic activities: food, timber, the absorption of CO2 by forests, fibres, space to occupy. By 29 July 2021 we had already exhausted all those that could be renewed over the course of this year. This is Earth Overshoot Day, the day on which humanity officially goes into debt with nature. The date has been calculated, as always, by the international organisation Global Footprint Network together with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa). "If we need a reminder that we are in the grip of a climate and ecological emergency, Earth Overshoot Day helps us do that," comments spokesperson Susan Aitken.
In 2020, when our way of life was suddenly paralysed by the coronavirus, Earth Overshoot Day fell on 22 August, slipping forward by a full three weeks compared to the previous year. The pandemic is still with us, but we have already returned to square one. This year's date – 29 July – is in fact exactly the same as the one that in 2019 was met with dismay because it had never before been marked so early.
In 2021, a particular factor has been that CO2 emissions linked to energy consumption are up 4.8 per cent, due to the resumption of major economic activities. The forecast of a peak in coal use is worrying; this single fossil fuel accounts for 40 per cent of the footprint attributable to CO2 emissions. Conversely, emissions linked to domestic flights and road transport (-5 per cent) and, above all, to international flights (-33 per cent) remain below 2019 levels.
At the same time, the planet's green lungs were being sacrificed. In 2020 alone, 4.2 million hectares of humid tropical primary forest were destroyed — the most precious for safeguarding biodiversity and absorbing CO2 — of which 1.7 million were in Brazil alone (an area equivalent to that of Lazio). All told, total forest biocapacity fell by 0.5 per cent in the space of a year. And the projections for the near future are anything but optimistic.
Given the speed and voracity with which humanity consumes resources, 1.7 planets would be needed to meet the demand. It is also true that there are profound differences from country to country. Italy is near the top of the list of the most wasteful, given that it reached its Overshoot Day in just four and a half months; to be precise, on 13 May 2021. The United States (14 March), Australia (22 March), South Korea (5 April) and Russia (17 April) fared even worse. Moving towards Central and South America, by contrast, we find nations that manage to make the Earth's resources last for almost the entire year: Colombia (2 November), Cuba (17 November), Nicaragua (2 December), Ecuador (7 December). Such a glaring gap is clear proof of the colossal economic inequalities that are splitting society in two. The climate and environmental crisis, however, is already sweeping us all away, regardless of how much we have contributed to triggering it.
On 29 July itself, the 100 days of possibility campaign was launched, one hundred days before "what has been considered the last-chance summit for global action against climate change": Cop 26, scheduled to take place in Glasgow. Each day the initiative's website will present a solution for moving the date of Earth Overshoot Day, reversing the overexploitation of resources and supporting the regeneration of the biosphere. Not statements of intent, but tangible actions to reduce food waste, better manage refrigerant gases, promote ecotourism, produce low-carbon cement and so on.
"Regardless of what is decided at the Conference of the Parties on climate change (Cop 26), there is no benefit in waiting to act," states Laurel Hanscom, CEO of Global Footprint Network. "The pandemic has shown that our society can change rapidly in the face of disaster. But being caught unprepared has brought enormous human and economic costs. In the immediate future, we likely have climate change and resource scarcity ahead of us; therefore individuals, institutions and governments that prepare starting right now will fare better. Global consensus is not a prerequisite for recognising the risks that await us. So let us act decisively now, wherever we are."
