A report by World Wildlife Fund and Global Footprint Network has shown that European countries countries are using the planet’s resources faster than they can be renewed. These resources include food, fiber, timber, carbon absorption and land. Portugal for example reached its annual limit last Sunday, 21 days earlier than the result for last year. Luxembourg, on the other hand, exceeded its limits back in February.
Outside Europe, the situation can be better.
Countries like Cuba, Morocco and Nigeria live ‘almost within their means’ – each one running until December before requiring ‘overspill’.
According to the report, if the rest of the world lived like Europe, we would need 2.8 planets to simply sustain us – and that’s before one factors in expanding populations.
As for other European countries, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria do ‘better than Portugal’, running until June before they exceed their resources.
Spain too lasts till next Tuesday, says Noticias de Coimbra, while Germany and France ran out in April – and places like Estonia and Denmark went through their annual quota of resources by March.
Reacting to the news, environmental association ZERO stresses the importance of “new practices”, particularly when it comes to what we eat and how we travel from A to B.
News item published with thanks to the Portugal Resident
Over 30% of the nation’s ‘carbon footprint’ is caused by the consumption of foods. Mobility takes up 18%.
