At present rates of global consumption, it takes the equivalent of 1.8 Earths to meet our collective needs. If the rest of the world lived as Canadians do, we would need another 4.1 planets
Just a few days ago, Canada overshot its fair share of the Earth’s biocapacity and resources, as measured by the ecological footprint in 2018, the latest year for which data is available.
The amount of nature we have is measured in terms of a nation’s or the world’s biocapacity, which “represents the productivity of its ecological assets .” But of course, a lot of that is exported, as the world depends upon Canada’s natural resources to meet its needs. In addition, a lot of it — forests and other natural areas — is not used directly by humanity and would seem to remain relatively untouched, although this is, in fact, the carbon sinks that absorb our carbon dioxide pollution.
Those ecological assets can be anywhere in the world, as we import food, raw materials and products from around the world and pump out carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. So if the rest of the world lived as we do, we would need another 4.1 planets, which we clearly do not have. Moreover, in “borrowing” the equivalent of 4.1 planets’ worth of biocapacity, Canadians are consuming more of the Earth’s biocapacity and resources than we are entitled to, if everyone on Earth were to get their fair share.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
2023 Globe and Mail ETF Buyer’s Guide Part Three: U.S. equity ETFsDrop any one of these ten ETFs into a portfolio and you’ve looked after your U.S. equity exposure.
Read more »
Queen’s Park earmarks $1.25-billion for long-term care staffing in 2023Queen's Park is announcing an investment of up to $1.25-billion for the long-term care sector in 2023. In November 2020, on the heels of two deadly waves of
Read more »
Pearson drops to 64th best airport in 2023 Top 100 global rankingsToronto’s Pearson International Airport has dropped significantly when it comes to the rankings of the world’s Top 100 Airports.
Read more »
Best-in-class: Canada's most efficient pickup trucks for 2023Best-in-class: Canada's most efficient pickup trucks for 2023 – via drivingdotca ShoppingAdvice PickupTrucks
Read more »
The Metals, Money, and Markets Weekly Mar. 17, 2023: 19th nervous breakdownKitco News' contributed commentary features articles and opinions from some of the top experts in the gold industry.
Read more »