The imprint of Italy? A disaster
For Italy, the situation is no better, quite the contrary. Overshoot Day this year already fell on May 13: since that date, we are indebted to the Earth. If the same level of resource consumption reached in our country were recorded all over the world, it would take almost three Earths (to be precise, 2.8) to satisfy the demand.
The ecological footprint of the average Italian corresponds to about 4.4 global hectares, well above the world average value of 2.8 hectares per person. The daily activities that have the greatest impact on the footprint of Italians, according to analyzes by the Global Footprint Network, indicate food consumption (25% of the total footprint) and the transport sector (18%) as the two main determinants.
The calculation of Overshoot Day began in the 1970s – when humanity’s “debt” to Earth was minimal – and gradually saw the date advance until July 29 of this year. At the end of the 1960s we were still in balance: our current account with nature was in balance. At the end of the 1980s, humanity’s ecological footprint “only” exceeded the planet’s renewable production capacity in November.
At the turn of the century, we had already run out of stocks in September. We are now at the end of July, in balance with 2019.
A cumulative debt of 18 years
Today it is estimated that the cumulative ecological debt is equivalent to 18 Earth years: this means that it would take 18 years of total inactivity of Earth’s resources to compensate for the damage caused by human overexploitation, assuming that the damage can be considered reversible.