Humans will need two Earths by 2050 if present trends in natural resource consumption continue. Currently, our use of ecosystem goods and services such as food, timber, energy, and waste recycling exceeds the planet's ability to provide them--its biocapacity--by 25 percent.

Assessing Global Consumption

These findings come from the Living Planet Report 2006, released earlier this week by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Results are based on two indices:

• the Living Planet Index, an assessment of the health of earth’s ecosystems; and
• the Ecological Footprint, a measure of the extent to which natural resources are being consumed by humans.

The Living Planet Index tracks trends in biodiversity based on the analysis of some 1300 terrestrial, marine, and freshwater vertebrate species. Data show that from 1970-2003, included animal populations declined by one-third. This is largely a result of human pollution, deforestation, and unsustainable fishing.

The Ecological Footprint of a country includes all of the agricultural land, forests, and fishing grounds required to supply a nation with its food, materials, and space for settlement. It also includes ecosystem absorption of wastes such as carbon dioxide emissions, currently the fastest growing component of the global ecological footprint. Consumption rates have even outpaced population growth, which has more than doubled since 1960. Present world population is approximately 6.5 billion.

Comparisons of National Footprints

On a per capita basis, the countries with the largest ecological footprint are:

United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Finland, Canada, Kuwait, Australia, Estonia, Sweden, New Zealand, Norway

The per capita footprints of the United Arab Emirates and the United States are approximately six and five times larger than the world average, respectively. The United States, however, has about 295 million more people than UAE, and hence, a much larger overall footprint (see map below which shows the relative proportions of natural resource consumption). Although the per capita footprints of China and India are not in the top ten, the size of their populations, coupled with the anticipated economic growth of these nations, factors significantly into determining future sustainability.

According to WWF, "the Earth's regenerative capacity can no longer keep up with demand – people are turning resources into waste faster than nature can turn waste back into resources."

"It is time to make some vital choices," according to WWF International's Director-General James Leape.

"Change that improves living standards while reducing our impact on the natural world will not be easy. The cities, power plants and homes we build today will either lock society into damaging over-consumption beyond our lifetimes, or begin to propel this and future generations towards sustainable living." (WWF Official Press Release)

The report concludes by examining three scenarios that explore disparate future sustainability pathways and offering recommendations for directing the world to a more sustainable existence.