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Two planets by 2030
The recent downturn in the global economy is a stark reminder of the consequences of living beyond our means. But the possibility of financial recession pales in comparison to the looming ecological credit crunch.
"If we continue with business as usual, we will need two planets by 2030 to keep up with humanity's demand for goods and services," cautions Dr Morne du Plessis, CEO of WWF South Africa, speaking at the launch of the Living Planet Report 2008.
The report, published every two years since 1998, has become widely accepted as an accurate statement of Earth's ability to retain its functional integrity as a "living planet". The Ecological Footprint analysis shows that while global biocapacity - the area available to produce our resources and capture our emissions - is 2.1 global hectares per person.
The average individual footprint worldwide is 2.7 global ha. Thus, we are exceeding the Earth's carrying capacity by about 30% on average.
The report finds that the USA and China have the largest national footprints, each in total about 21 per cent of global biocapacity (the productive area of the earth), but US citizens each require an average of 9.4 global ha (or nearly 4.5 Planet Earths if the global population had US consumption patterns), while Chinese citizens use on average 2.1 global ha per person. Biocapacity is unevenly distributed, with eight nations - the United States, Brazil, Russia, China, India, Canada, Argentina and Australia - containing more than half the world total.
Population and consumption patterns make three of these countries ecological debtors, with footprints greater than their national biocapacity - the United States (footprint 1.8 times national biocapacity), China (2.3 times) and India ( 2.2 times).
According to Du Plessis, the average individual footprints of South Africans sits at 2.1 global hectares per person slightly below the world average of 2.7gha.
"While this seems very positive," says Du Plessis, "We must bear in mind that this does not indicate that you and I are necessarily living sustainable lifestyles. There is still a large gap between rich and poor in our nation and the reality is that this creates a biased perception of individual footprints."