Panhuber from Greenpeace therefore demands that the recommendations of the climate council must finally be implemented. In concrete terms, the date says: If resource consumption were as high worldwide as in Austria, the annual biocapacity of the earth would be used up on the calculated day. Experts from the Global Footprint Network use a complicated process to calculate the annual “Earth Overshoot Day” in each country.
The biocapacity – all natural resources that the earth creates in the year – is divided by the ecological footprint (human resource consumption) and multiplied by 365. As of April 6th, Austria is in the front row. For comparison: In Germany and France, the day is not reached until May 4th and 5th, respectively, while in Luxembourg it was already on February 14th.
Living “at the expense of our future”
“No industrial company, inn or farm can be successful if it has already spent its entire annual budget at the beginning of April. But that’s exactly what Austria is doing and living with it at the expense of our future,” said Panhuber. “Instead of always just talking about the costs and hurdles for climate protection, politicians, entrepreneurs and the media must finally start focusing on the necessity and the opportunities. The federal government must start now – for example by implementing the 93 recommendations of the climate council,” the environmental protection organization said.
The Arab Emirate of Qatar had its earliest “Earth Overshoot Day” again this year on February 10, the latest Earth Overshoot Day is in the West African state of Benin.
Not all countries have an Earth Overshoot Day. All countries whose ecological footprint per person is lower than the biocapacity per person calculated worldwide do not appear in the list at all.
Sign of “absurd inequality”
“Congestion Day also shows the absurd inequality. Because worldwide, 56 of the richest industrialized countries – including all of Europe – overload the earth. That is where most of the profits of the linear economic system flow. However, the costs such as exploitation, waste of resources and mountains of rubbish are mainly borne by countries in the Global South,” criticized Panhuber.
According to the environmental protection organization Global 2000, the “Overshoot Earth Day” is a sign that “Austria is also dependent on global resources”. “The federal government must therefore campaign for compliance with environmental protection, climate and human rights laws in the current negotiations on the EU supply chain law,” said spokeswoman Anna Leitner.
The experts also identify a global resource depletion day each year. This last fell on July 28. According to Greenpeace, the international “Earth Overshoot Day” will be one day earlier this year.
