Section 12
Thematic reviews
12.3. Earth Overshoot Day 2020
In 2020, the calculated Overshoot Day fell on August 22 (more than three weeks later than 2019) due to coronavirus induced lockdowns around the world. Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. The earlier the eco-debt day comes, the more mankind owes to the planet and future generations, and vice versa, the closer to the end of the year the date shifts, the less debt is.
According to GFN, the world population is using as much as 1.7 planets a year, a figure that is thought to increase to 2 planets by 2030. Yet, we only have one planet. It is needed to shift the Earth overshoot to December 31. The World Wildlife Fund stresses that to shift the Earth overshoot to December 31 it is needed firstly to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Cutting CO2 emissions by 50% would move the date to October. This will pay our “loan” to the planet and future generations for 3 months.
Èñòî÷íèê: Global Footprint Network 2020