The Ecological Footprint Ann Mac Garry Education Officer

The Ecological Footprint Ann Mac. Garry Education Officer Centre for Alternative Technology

What is it? What does it tell us? What is its relevance for farming/growing in Britain? Where’s the information?

The ecological footprint is a way of expressing our impact on the planet. It shows us the amount of land that is used to provide us with everything that we consume (energy, food, homes, travelling around, the things we buy) and also to cope with the wastes that we produce.

It measures it in area of land (and sea) used These are the Eco-footprint categories of land use the size is not intended to represent proportions

bioproductive land arable land used for growing crops (food but also including things like cotton) pasture land for grazing animals forest land used to produce timber, paper and other products bioproductive sea space products are fish, other seafoods and seaweed built and degraded land roads, buildings (houses, factories, schools, offices, shops), car parks, airports energy land the area of woodland needed to absorb the CO 2 produced in using the energy biodiversity land needed to ensure the protection of the nonhuman species

It is expressed in global hectares (gha) or planets Global hectares are more or less than a real hectare (100 mx 100 m) depending on the productivity

So, how do they measure energy? One 2003 global hectare can absorb the CO 2 released by burning approximately 1 450 litres of petrol per year. Living Planet Report 2006

We only have 1 planet. . .

But in Britain we behave as if we had 3

Why do we need the Ecological Footprint? What does it tell us that we wont get elsewhere?

Our challenge – Can we provide for the needs of everyone on the planet without increasing Climate Change or destroying the natural environment? and go on providing for the needs of future generations

It gives us some idea of what the limits are - a measure of what is possible, of what we could provide for the population of this planet and of the impact of our possible solutions It can help us to prioritise

What does it add to what a carbon calculator does? It includes carbon but because it adds the spatial element it shows the limits of some solutions

What it does and doesn’t do Attempts to incorporate all aspects of our physical impacts on the planet, but can only do that if those impacts can be related to land use (some pollution can’t be) Does not give a measure for depletion of finite resources Does not give a measure of aesthetics or social impacts Cannot easily produce a quantifiable figure for absolutely every aspect of human life

It is evolving as an analytical tool It’s authors have an underlying moral philosophy about fairness and they err on the side of caution in their calculations, so they will be underestimates, rather than overestimates

It measures all our consumption - subtracts exports and adds imports - so produces different figures from those that relate to UK energy production and consumption

WWF and SEI have recently produced footprint reports for every local authority in Britain http: //www. wwflearning. org. uk/ecological-budget/ and then to http: //www. sei. se/reap/download_login. php? region=l

The earth has a surface area of about 51 billion hectare. Only 15 billion hectares is land. It has been calculated that there about 11. 3 billion hectares of bio-productive area. (a considerable amount of the Earth’s surface is rock, desert or covered with ice) The World population is at least 6. 4 billion So, our individual fair share of the 11. 3 billion would be 1. 8 hectares each and it’s getting smaller all the time…. . . 2001 data, LPR 2004 p 34

So, how are we doing?

Humanity’s Ecological Footprint This what we are consuming But, how is it possible to consume more than 1 planet’s worth of resources? Living Planet Report 2006

This is part of the answer Another part is Climate Change Living Planet Report 2006

WWF Living Planet Report 2006

We are using 2. 2 gha person Living Planet Report 2006

Living Planet Report 2006

How is it changing over time? Is poverty reducing?

EF of different areas Britain 5. 45 South East 6. 9 York 6. 7 London 6. 63 Scotland 5. 35 Wales 5. 25

What direction should we be taking in Land use?

Food and drink Energy Travel Holidays Consumables 24. 5 % Services 4. 5 % 17 % Capital invest. 14 % 15 % Government 8% 2% 12 % (this is the stuff we buy, but not food) www. walesfootprint. org

In Wales meat is 9. 5% of our total footprint, 3% is drinks while fruit, vegetables, bread and cereals are only 4%.

Taking Stock 2004

What is it that makes The Ecological footprint Of food so large? methane

York report

For UK food consumption as a whole: • Over 31% by weight is imported from overseas, of which over 99% arrives by ship. • The UK agricultural imports chart. . . shows year to year fluctuations but some very clear trends: imports of ‘agricultural raw materials’ in particular have doubled each decade from 1970 Taking Stock

A large proportion of the food footprint – 44% for eating in and 26% for eating out – is due to the consumption of meat products. .

0. 88 gha/cap for eating at home 0. 41 gha/cap for eating out. the actual amounts eaten 578 kg/cap eaten at home 61 kg/cap eaten out the service of providing food in a restaurant involves various service activities and is less efficient than food preparation at home. 30% of the footprint for food eaten out comes from soft drinks (10%) and alcoholic drinks (20%). Taking Stock

Over 1 million tonnes per year of food and drink goes to waste directly, of which 88% goes to landfill disposal: 700, 000 tonnes of household food is wasted, at an estimated rate of 14% of the total. 386, 000 tonnes of catering food is wasted, at an estimated rate of 43% of the total. Taking Stock

Issues What’s in season? Wastage Processing Content of diet Food miles Organic production

So, Energy used on farms is not so much Energy associated with processing is more significant Direct land use varies enormously highest for animal products Food miles is an issue when it is air transport or many road miles (and impact can be increased by refrigeration etc. )

A win-win situation? Harvard food pyramid

What is the impact of our large food footprint on the rest of the world? It is linked to low wages and exploitation (inc health risks from pesticide use) climate change environmental degradation human rights violations violence

Wales 2004 p 75

Wales 2004 p 75

It is also extremely effective as an educational tool

It is also extremely effective as an General awareness educational tool raising about the fact that our lives have an impact on the planet

Awareness raising about the degree to which our own consumption in Britain exceeds the capacity of the planet (the 3 planets) and that 80% of the global population consume so little

A tool for analysing our impact to see what the relative significance is of different parts of our lifestyle – breaking it down into components.

A tool to work out how we could change our footprint – for ourselves individually, a school, area or for the region or country – creating visions of a sustainable future

It offers opportunities for role play, cartoon, metaphor, creative thinking

and spins off other learning

Sources of info – Calculate your own footprint at - www. myfootprint. org SEI (Stockholm environment Institute) reports http: //www. york. ac. uk/inst/sei/IS/sustain. html and look at http: //www. regionalsustainability. org/ the Living Planet Report 2006 – http: //www. panda. org The long, detailed and interesting footprint report of the South East of England at – www. takingstock. org Redefining Progress www. Redefining. Progress. org/ecologicalfootprint Best Foot Forward www. bestfootforward. com Sharing Nature’s Interest – book CAT Where’s the Impact pack – www. cat. org. uk/edresources