- Earth Load Day: Living as if 1.7 Earths were available
Since Thursday, humanity has been consuming more resources than Earth can renew in a year. In other words, we're living as if we have 1.7 Earths at our disposal. This is reported by the organization Germanwatch, citing calculations by the Global Footprint Network based in the USA and Switzerland.
This day falls one day earlier than last year. The overshoot includes consumption of fish, arable land, or wood, as well as Earth's capacity to absorb waste and emissions.
Air travel: A minority causes global damage
Airplanes are particularly harmful to the climate, causing about three times the greenhouse effect of the same amount of CO2 emissions on the ground, Germanwatch emphasizes. Contrails are a reason for this. In contrast, rail transport offers a more sustainable alternative, being up to 28 times more climate-friendly than intra-European flights.
A very small proportion of the world's population is responsible for this key driver of the climate crisis with their flying habits, explains Jacob Rohm of Germanwatch. For example, over 60 percent of Germans say they rarely or never fly, according to the organization. Moreover, over 80 percent of the world's population has never boarded an airplane.
Planetary boundaries: Politics should understand Earth's connections
Germanwatch is not the only one sounding the alarm about Earth's health. International research teams have dealt with so-called planetary boundaries. Defined in 2009, they are supposed to outline a safe operating space for humanity and cover nine areas, such as freshwater use, biosphere function, climate, and aerosols in the atmosphere. Investigations have shown that six of these areas have already been exceeded by human activities, including climate change and freshwater changes.
In a 2024 study by a team led by Arne Tobian of Stockholm University and Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), it was also investigated how the violation of one boundary can lead to the overshoot of another. To explore this, the team focused on the changes that climate change causes in the world's major forest regions.
It showed that the increase in Earth's temperature in the coming centuries could lead to critical overshoots in the forest area. In the worst-case scenario, boreal forests could die out on their current area and grow further north. Mid-latitude forests could follow northwards, while tropical forests could slightly increase in area, the study shows in a simulation. This and other factors would also lead to further changes in freshwater and feedbacks with the climate itself.
The expert team emphasizes how important it is to view these planetary boundaries as an interconnected and interdependent stability structure. Political measures that reduce pressure on one boundary could affect the stability of the Earth system in other dimensions of planetary boundaries. This understanding is important to determine which measures should be taken or avoided to create a positive impact.
According to calculations by the Global Footprint Network, Germany's natural resources were depleted on May 2nd. The high consumption of meat and other animal products has a significant impact on the use of natural resources, according to Germanwatch.
To reduce resource consumption, the German Federal Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) is calling for a law with clear protection goals. This is necessary to establish responsibilities and create incentives for a sustainable economy, according to BUND chairman Olaf Bandt.
BUND identifies three components for a sustainability strategy: efficiency, consistency, and sufficiency. The latter, a form of contentment, is gaining increasing importance. Given the limited natural resources and climate change, it aims to save energy and materials, often by addressing individual lifestyles. "A key to truly consuming less lies in more sufficiency - the motto being: less resource consumption, more quality of life," says BUND.
Positive Outlook
Germanwatch also has a positive message: "For decades, overshoot has increased almost every year, but it has been stable at a high level for nearly a decade," says political business manager Christoph Bals. "The good news is that the turning point seems to have been reached."
He cites the "global triumph" of renewable energy, storage technologies, electric mobility, and heat pumps, among other trends, as reasons. These and other trends need to be significantly accelerated to prevent climate tipping points and further massive species losses.
The high consumption of meat and other animal products significantly contributes to the depletion of natural resources in Germany, as reported by Germanwatch. To reduce resource consumption, BUND advocates for a law with clear protection goals, establishing responsibilities and incentives for a sustainable economy.
The overshoot of Earth's natural resource boundaries, such as fish, arable land, and waste absorption capacity, includes air travel as a major contributor, according to Germanwatch. Contrarily, rail transport offers a more sustainable alternative to intra-European flights, being up to 28 times more climate-friendly.
