[Read in English]

A cidade de Guimarães é o berço de Portugal. Localizada no Norte do país, Guimarães foi a primeira capital de Portugal no século XII e, mais recentemente, em 2011, o seu centro histórico foi declarado Património Mundial da UNESCO. Em 2012, Guimarães foi a Capital Europeia da Cultura. Agora, a cidade olha para o futuro e orgulha-se dos seus esforços para se tornar uma referência no que concerne à sustentabilidade urbana.

Guimarães é uma das seis cidades portuguesas que, desde o ano passado, participa no projeto da Pegada Ecológica dos Municípios Portugueses. O projeto tem três anos de duração e é liderado pela ZERO, uma associação ambientalista de referência em Portugal, em parceria com a Global Footprint Network e com a Universidade de Aveiro. As outras cidades participantes no projeto são Almada, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Lagoa e Vila Nova de Gaia.

Em março de 2018, Guimarães foi a primeira cidade do projeto a revelar a sua Pegada Ecológica, um resultado do estudo liderado por Sara Moreno Pires (PhD) e a sua equipa do Departamento de Ciências Sociais, Políticas e do Território da Universidade de Aveiro.

Resultados da Pegada Ecológica

Os investigadores concluíram que, em 2013, o ano mais recente para o qual existem dados, a pegada ecológica média de um residente de Guimarães era de 3,76 hectares globais (gha) per capita. O resultado é 3% inferior comparativamente à média de um cidadão português (3,87 gha per capita). Mesmo assim, o resultado de Guimarães é 2,5 vezes superior à biocapacidade de Portugal que corresponde a 1,52 gha. A diferença entre a pegada ecológica de Portugal e de Guimarães explica-se, em grande parte, porque Guimarães tem uma pegada de carbono inferior à média nacional, sobretudo devido a uma menor procura por habitação, água, eletricidade, gás e outros combustíveis. A componente das emissões de carbono representa 56% da Pegada Ecológica do município, seguida das áreas para produtos agrícolas (26%) e áreas de pesca (8%).

Ao comparar Guimarães com a região Norte (3,58 gha), Guimarães tem uma Pegada Ecológica superior, devendo-se sobretudo devido à maior procura de produtos alimentares e transportes. Os investigadores explicam que provavelmente a maior procura deve-se ao facto dos residentes em Guimarães serem, em média, mais ricos comparativamente aos outros municípios da sub-região do Ave.

O impacto da Pegada Ecológica

“A Pegada Ecológica é crítica porque providencia informações do lado consumo e, habitualmente, estas informações são mais difíceis de obter do que do lado da produção. Como tal, a metodologia fornece informações aos decisores que antes não estavam disponíveis”, afirma Sara Moreno Pires. “Usar a Pegada Ecológica é muito importante para mapear, perceber os desafios ambientais ao nível local, alterar hábitos e as políticas “, acrescenta.

O projeto tem sido desenvolvido de forma a que a Pegada Ecológica e a Biocapacidade possam guiar as políticas de desenvolvimento locais. “Achamos que as informações provenientes da Pegada Ecológica são muito importantes para ajudar a desenvolver e a fortalecer as políticas pois permitem identificar os sectores nos quais devem ser focados os esforços e investimentos, como por exemplo, a alimentação e a mobilidade”, explica Jorge Cristino, Adjunto da Vereação na Câmara Municipal de Guimarães.

De facto, a avaliação da Pegada Ecológica recomenda que o município priorize as estratégicas para os sectores da alimentação e transportes. Os autores encorajam a adoção de políticas que promovam o transporte sustentável, favorecendo os transportes públicos em detrimento do transporte individual. Também são recomendadas campanhas de sensibilização para promover alterações na dieta dos cidadãos de Guimarães com vista a reduzir o consumo de proteína animal, aumentando o consumo de cereais, vegetais e frutos; consumir peixe de nível trófico inferior; bem como o consumo de uma quantidade adequada de calorias.

Ambições nacionais

Em última instância, o objetivo mais lato do projeto da Pegada Ecológica dos Municípios Portugueses é a transformação das políticas nacionais. “Entendemos que é necessário avaliar a Pegada Ecológica e a Biocapacidade de diferentes cidades e regiões do país para desenvolver um sistema nacional de governança que promova equidade e justiça”, afirma Paulo Magalhães, Coordenador do projeto da Pegada Ecológica dos Municípios Portugueses da ZERO.

O terceiro ano do projeto da Pegada Ecológica dos Municípios Portugueses será dedicado ao estudo e à proposta de critérios de distribuição de fundos governamentais pelas regiões. “No final do projeto, pretendemos ter aumentado a sensibilidade ao nível do governo nacional para alterar a legislação relativa ao financiamento dos municípios, de forma a ter em conta também a Pegada Ecológica e a Biocapacidade dos municípios”, explica Filipe Teles (PhD), Pró-reitor para o Desenvolvimento Regional e Política de Cidades da Universidade de Aveiro.

A análise e as recomendações das políticas resultantes do projeto servirão para fomentar a coesão territorial e a equidade. Além do mais, servirão para desenvolver instrumentos de políticas públicas para preservar e melhorar o capital natural de cada município, bem como fortalecer a gestão sustentável da paisagem e dos recursos naturais.

Entretanto, durante o segundo ano do projeto, o foco será centrado em torno do debate público a nível local acerca de estilos de vida mais sustentáveis. Uma das ferramentas utilizadas será uma calculadora online específica de cada cidade para que cada residente possa calcular a sua pegada individual ao mesmo tempo que fica mais informado acerca dos impactos humanos no ambiente. Haverá ainda workshops e mesas-redondas com diversas partes interessadas de governos locais, organizações não governamentais de ambiente e com sociedade civil para discutir as implicações dos resultados da Pegada Ecológica, bem como para ponderar o rumo a seguir no futuro.

Inspiração do prémio Nobel

A viagem em torno da sustentabilidade da cidade de Guimarães teve início em 2014 quando o seu presidente da Câmara, Domingos Bragança, solicitou um diagnóstico ambiental da cidade à Universidade do Minho após ter ouvido um discurso proferido por Mohan Munasinghe, físico, académico e economista do Sri Lanka. O antigo vice-presidente do Painel Intergovernamental para as Alterações Climáticas das Nações Unidas (IPCC em inglês) e vencedor o prémio Nobel da Paz, recomendou, durante uma conferência sobre o ambiente que decorreu em Guimarães, que o município deveria reunir um grupo especialistas para desenvolver um plano para o desenvolvimento sustentável para a cidade. Assim, em 2015, mais de 200 indivíduos foram convidados a desenvolver uma estratégia eficaz para o desenvolvimento sustentável do município. Como resultado, foram desenvolvidos diversos planos: mobilização do público; implementação de programas educacionais focados em temas ambientais e de desenvolvimento sustentável; programas de recuperação do solo e de mobilidade sustentável.

No ano passado, Guimarães foi reconhecida como a cidade mais sustentável de Portugal, um feito notável tendo em conta que em 2015 ocupava o oitavo lugar.

O melhor ainda está para vir. Afinal de contas, a adesão ao projeto da Pegada Ecológica dos Municípios Portugueses é o primeiro passo em direção a uma visão global de sustentabilidade. As cidades de Almada, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Lagoa e Vila Nova de Gaia certamente que seguirão a mesma direção. A esperança é que o resto do país faça o mesmo.

Videos

The post Como o berço de Portugal adotou a Pegada Ecológica appeared first on Global Footprint Network.

[Read in Portuguese]

The city of Guimarães is the cradle of Portugal. Nestled in the north of the country, Guimarães became the first capital of Portugal in the 12th century and was selected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. It was also designated as the European Capital of Culture for 2012, among other distinctions. Just as importantly, the city also is looking to the future and prides itself on efforts to grow into a national role model for sustainable urban living.

Last year, Guimarães was among six cities that embarked on a three-year Footprinting project organized by ZERO, a leading environmental NGO in Portugal, in partnership with Global Footprint Network and the University of Aveiro. The project also includes the cities of Almada, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Lagoa, and Vila Nova de Gaia.

In March 2018, Guimarães was the first city in the project to unveil the findings of the Footprint assessment led by Sara Moreno Pires, Ph.D., and her team at the Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences at the University of Aveiro.

Footprint Findings

The researchers found that in 2013 (the latest year data was available at the time researchers got to work), per-person biocapacity (capacity of ecosystems to renew) in Guimarães was 2.5 times the national average biocapacity per person in Portugal. At the same time, the average Ecological Footprint of a resident in Guimarães was 3% lower than that of the average Portuguese citizen, at 3.76 global hectares (gha) per capita. The city’s lower average carbon Footprint per capita, compared to that of Portugal, largely accounts for the difference. This is due to a lower demand for housing, electricity, gas and other fuels compared to the national average. Carbon emissions represent 56% of the city’s Ecological Footprint, followed by cropland (26%) and fishing grounds (8%).

A regional comparison, on the other hand, shows a higher Ecological Footprint in Guimarães than in the rest of the north of the country, due mainly to a higher demand for food, transportation, and goods. Researchers pointed out that Guimarães residents are, on average, wealthier than the residents of other cities within the Ave sub-region.

The Ecological Footprint’s Impact

“The Ecological Footprint is critical because it provides us with information on the consumption side, which is typically a lot trickier to access than information on the production side. As such, it provides decision-makers with information that they haven’t had before,” says Moreno Pires. “Using the Ecological Footprint is very important with regard to mapping and understanding environmental challenges at the local level, with a view to changing behavior and policies,” she adds.

The project has been designed so that the Footprint and biocapacity assessment informs and guides local development policies. “We find that the Ecological Footprint data is very important to help us devise and strengthen policies because it tells us which sectors we need to focus our efforts and investments on – such as food and mobility,” explains Jorge Cristino, Deputy Mayor’s Aide, International Affairs, Public Relations, Environment for the city of Guimarães.

Indeed, the Footprint assessment recommends that the municipality prioritize green strategies in the food and transportation sectors. Its authors encourage policies promoting sustainable transportation, including favoring public transit over individual cars. They also recommend awareness campaigns aimed at encouraging changes in the dietary choices of Guimarães’ residents towards lower animal protein-intensive meals (increasing the share of cereals, vegetables and fruits), lower trophic-level fishes, and calories-adequate diets.

National Ambitions

Ultimately, transforming national policies is the goal of the Portugal cities project. “Our view is that we need to assess the Ecological Footprint and biocapacity of the different cities and regions around the country in order to develop a national system of governance that promotes equity and justice,” says Paulo Magalhães, City Footprinting Project Coordinator at ZERO.

Year 3 of the City Footprinting Project in Portugal will be devoted to studying and proposing a change in the criteria for the distribution of government subsidies to municipalities. “By the end of the project, we intend to raise awareness at the Portuguese national government and Parliament, in order to change national legislation regarding how municipalities are funded so that their Ecological Footprint and biocapacity are included in the analysis,” explains Filipe Teles, Ph.D., Prorector for Regional Development and Urban Policies at the University of Aveiro.

Analysis and policy recommendations stemming from the City Footprinting Project will strive for territorial cohesion and equity. They will also aim at developing public policy instruments to preserve and improve the natural capital of each municipality and strengthen the sustainable management of the landscape and of natural resources.

In the meantime, year 2 of the program will focus on activating the public debate at the local level about sustainable living and sustainable development. Tools will include online Footprint Calculators with city-specific data so that each resident can calculate her/his individual Footprint and become aware of the multiple human impacts on the environment. Workshops and roundtables will be organized with stakeholders from local governments, NGOs, and civil society to discuss the implications of the Footprint assessment findings and evaluate options for moving forward.

Nobel Prize Inspiration

The sustainability journey of Guimarães started in 2014 when its mayor, Domingos Bragança, requested an environmental diagnostic of the city from the University of Minho after he heard a speech by Sri Lankan physicist, academic, and economist Mohan Munasinghe. Invited to a conference on environmental issues hosted by the city, the former vice chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner had recommended that the city bring together a multi-stakeholder group to devise a plan for sustainable development.

Consequently, in 2015, more than 200 individuals were invited to help develop an effective strategy for the sustainable development of the municipality. Immediate impacts included mobilizing members of the public, deploying education programs on local environmental issues and sustainable living, and developing programs in soil restoration and green mobility.

Last year, Guimarães was recognized as the most sustainable city in Portugal – a remarkable improvement from its ranking at No. 8 in 2015.

The best is yet to come. After all, with the adoption of the Ecological Footprint analysis, Guimarães has taken the first step towards a globally consistent vision of sustainability. So will the cities of Almada, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Lagoa, and Vila Nova de Gaia. The hope is that the nation as a whole will follow suit.

Videos

The post How Portugal’s birthplace has embraced the Ecological Footprint appeared first on Global Footprint Network.

OAKLAND, CA, USA; SIENA, ITALY, 24 MAGGIO 2018–Secondo i dati del Global Footprint Network, un’organizzazione internazionale di ricerca ambientale se tutta la popolazione mondiale avesse lo stesso stile di vita e gli stessi consumi degli italiani, il Giorno del Sovrasfruttamento della Terra cadrebbe il 24 maggio.

Il “Giorno del Sovrasfruttamento della Terra” indica per ogni anno la data in cui l’umanità ha finito di consumare tutte le risorse che il nostro pianeta è in grado di produrre in quell’anno: questi calcoli sono basati sull’indicatore ambientale detto “Impronta ecologica”.

L’Impronta ecologica misura la domanda annuale dell’umanità di risorse naturali e può essere confrontata con la biocapacità, che misura la capacità della Terra di rigenerare tali risorse in un anno.

Il Giorno del Sovrasfruttamento della Terra per l’Italia è calcolato attribuendo l’Impronta ecologica di un Italiano medio a tutta la popolazione mondiale e quindi confrontandola con la biocapacità globale.

“Se tutti gli abitanti della Terra consumassero le risorse come fanno gli Italiani, avremmo bisogno di 2,6 pianeti Terra”, ha dichiarato Mathis Wackernagel, Ph.D., CEO e co-fondatore del Global Footprint Network. “Ma chiaramente abbiamo solo una Terra a disposizione, e non adattarsi ai suoi limiti diventa un rischio per tutti noi. Se il nostro pianeta ha dei limiti, l’ingegno dell’uomo sembra non averne. Vivere secondo le capacita del nostro pianeta di sostenerci è tecnologicamente possibile, economicamente vantaggioso ed è la nostra unica possibilità per un futuro più florido. Costruire un futuro sostenibile per tutti deve essere la nostra priorità “.

Quasi ogni anno, il Giorno del Sovrasfruttamento cade sempre prima nel calendario e questo succede a partire dai primi anni ’70, quando l’umanità ha iniziato a vivere in deficit ecologico. Gli effetti del deficit ecologico globale stanno diventando sempre più evidenti in forma di deforestazione, erosione del suolo, perdita degli habitat naturali e della biodiversità, accumulo di anidride carbonica nell’atmosfera e cambiamento climatico.

Con un valore pro capite di 4,3 ettari globali (o gha), noi Italiani abbiamo un impronta ecologica decisamente superiore alla media Mediterranea (3.2 gha pro capite), sebbene inferiore a quella dei Francesi (4,7 gha pro capite), e maggiore di quella degli Spagnoli (3,8 gha pro capite). Tutto ciò è dovuto principalmente al settore dei trasporti e al consumo di cibo. Agire su queste due sfere di attività quotidiane darebbe quindi le più alte possibilità di invertire la tendenza e ridurre l’impronta degli italiani.

L’odierno lancio della versione italiana del Footprint calculator consente agli italiani di scoprire come le proprie attività quotidiane influenzino la loro impronta ecologica, ovvero il consumo di risorse naturali. Il Global Footprint Network ha lanciato il nuovo Footprint Calculator su www.footprintcalculator.org/it in collaborazione con la Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena, fondazione toscana di origine bancaria che svolge attività filantropica a servizio della propria comunità di riferimento.

“Speriamo che il nuovo Footprint Calculator italiano diventi uno strumento utile per aumentare la consapevolezza sulla sostenibilità tra studenti, genitori e insegnanti coinvolti nei nostri programmi educativi, come sCOOL FOOD e il progetto di cittadinanza globale FMPS”, ha dichiarato Davide Usai, CEO di FMPS. “Crediamo fermamente che il Calculator sia un potente strumento per consentire a sempre più persone in Italia di cercare soluzioni per la sostenibilità.”

L’Impronta ecologica di una persona rappresenta la misura di superficie di pianeta produttiva necessaria a fornire tutto ciò che la persona stessa richiede alla natura, compresi la produzione di cibo, fibre e legno, le aree per le infrastrutture urbane e l’assorbimento delle emissioni di anidride carbonica dovute all’utilizzo di combustibili fossili.

Oltre a misurare l’impronta ecologica di un individuo, lo strumento presentato oggi consente agli utenti di determinare il proprio Giorno del Sovrasfruttamento della Terra, ovvero la data in cui le risorse che il pianeta produce in un intero anno verrebbero esaurite se tutta la popolazione mondiale vivesse secondo il suo stile di vita. Nel 2017, il Giorno del Sovrasfruttamento della Terra è stato il 2 agosto, quindi se il Giorno del Sovrasfruttamento di un utente cade prima del 2 agosto significa che la sua impronta personale sulla natura è superiore alla media globale. Se invece cade prima del 24 maggio significa che l’impronta di quell’utente è superiore a quella di un italiano medio.

Divertente e dinamico, il Footprint Calculator esorta inoltre gli utenti a posticipare il loro personale Giorno del Sovrasfruttamento nel calendario, facendo comprendere la responsabilità che essi hanno rispetto alla loro personale impronta ecologica, suggerendo soluzioni di sostenibilità e incitandoli a condividere questi risultati sui social media con l’hashtag #MoveTheDate.

Oltre 1 milione di persone in tutto il mondo, tra cui un grande numero di studenti ed insegnanti, hanno utilizzato il Footprint Calculator del Global Footprint Network da quando è stato lanciato il 2 agosto dello scorso anno nella nuova versione ottimizzata per dispositivi mobili.

Il Calculator si basa sulla metodologia e sui dati più aggiornati del Global Footprint Network, che si occupa di misurare l’impronta ecologica e la biocapacità di oltre 200 nazioni e regioni dal 1961 ad oggi. I risultati di questi calcoli, basati sui dati delle Nazioni Unite, sono disponibili gratuitamente sulla piattaforma online disponibile all’indirizzo data.footprintnetwork.org.

Risorse aggiuntive

Per calcolare il tuo personale Giorno del Sovrasfruttamento e la tua Impronta Ecologica, visita: www.footprintcalculator.org/it (22 maggio 2018)

I risultati relativi all’Impronta Ecologica di tutti i paesi del mondo sono disponibili sulla piattaforma dati aperta del Footprint Explorer: data.footprintnetwork.org

Ulteriori informazioni sul Giorno del Sovrasfruttamento della Terra: www.overshootday.org

Giorni di overshoot paese infografica: www.overshootday.org/newsroom/country-overshoot-days/

Segui l’hashtag #MoveTheDate sui social network

Informazioni su Global Footprint Network
Il Global Footprint Network sta cambiando il modo in cui il mondo gestisce le proprie risorse naturali e risponde ai cambiamenti climatici attraverso:

• METODI DI MISURA semplici, significativi e modulabili;
• IDEE OPERATIVE per il consumo e la disponibilità di risorse naturali
• STRUMENTI ed ANALISI per informare e guidare decisioni consapevoli

www.footprintnetwork.org

Informazioni su Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena
La Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena è un ente non profit che promuove e supporta lo sviluppo socio-economico del Territorio e della Comunità di riferimento in una prospettiva di benessere diffuso e sostenibile, con un ruolo costitutivo, propositivo e aggregante, grazie alla capacità di mettere al servizio delle Istituzioni, degli enti e delle imprese, conoscenze e progettazioni innovative, in una condivisa visione strategica.
www.fondazionemps.it

Contatti multimediali:

Alessandro Galli, Ph.D. (Italiano e inglese)
Direttore del Programma Mediterraneo
Global Footprint Network
+39 347 9034977 (Italy, GMT+1)
alessandro.galli@footprintnetwork.org

Ronna Kelly (English)
Director, Marketing & Communications
Global Footprint Network
+1 510 834-2563 (California, PDT = GMT-7h)
ronna.kelly@footprintnetwork.org

Samanta Bora (Italian)
Ufficio Stampa
Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena
+39 0577246054 (Italy, GMT+1)
ufficio.stampa@fondazionemps.it

The post Il 24 maggio è il Giorno del Sovrasfruttamento ecologico dell’Italia;<br>il Global Footprint Network e la Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena lanciano il Footprint Calculator italiano appeared first on Global Footprint Network.

OAKLAND, CA, USA; SIENA, ITALY, 23 MAY 2018–If the entire human population led the lifestyle of Italians, Earth Overshoot Day would fall on May 24, according to Global Footprint Network, an international environmental research organization.

Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity has used all the resources the planet can regenerate in the entire year, as measured by Ecological Footprint accounting. The Ecological Footprint measures humanity’s annual demand for natural resources; it can be compared to biocapacity, which measures the Earth’s annual capacity to regenerate such resources. Italian Overshoot Day is calculated by scaling the average Italian Ecological Footprint per person to the global population and then comparing it to global biocapacity.

“If all humanity consumed like Italians, we would need 2.6 Earths,” noted Mathis Wackernagel, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Global Footprint Network. “But we have only one Earth. Not adjusting to planetary limits becomes a risk to us all. While our planet has limits, human ingenuity does not. Living within the means of our planet is technologically possible, financially beneficial, and our only chance for a prosperous future. Let’s put building a successful future at the center of our attention.”

Earth Overshoot Day has been moving earlier on the calendar almost every year since humanity started running an ecological deficit in the early 1970s. The costs of the global ecological deficit are becoming increasingly apparent in the forms of deforestation, soil erosion, loss of wildlife habitat and biodiversity, the accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere, and climate change.

At 4.3 global hectares (gha) per person, Italy’s Footprint is noticeably higher than the Mediterranean regional average (3.2 gha per person), although slightly lower than that of France (4.7 gha per person) and higher than the Footprint of Spain (3.8 gha per person). Italy’s Footprint is mainly driven by transportation and food consumption. Focusing on those two areas of daily activities would therefore yield the highest possibilities for turning the tide and reducing the Footprint of Italians.

The launch today of a new Italian Footprint Calculator enables Italians to explore how their own daily activities drive their Ecological Footprint, or demand for natural resources. Global Footprint Network launched the new Footprint Calculator at www.footprintcalculator.org/it in partnership with Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena, a Tuscan nonprofit organization that promotes the socioeconomic development and sustainable wellbeing of the Siena community.

“We hope that the new Italian Footprint Calculator will become a useful tool for raising sustainability awareness among students, parents, and teachers involved in our educational programs, such as sCOOL FOOD and the FMPS global citizenship project,” said Davide Usai, CEO of FMPS. “We are confident that the Calculator is a powerful instrument for enabling more and more people in Italy to explore sustainability solutions.”

A person’s Ecological Footprint represents the amount of productive area required to provide everything that person demands from nature, including the production of food, fiber and wood, the accommodation of urban infrastructure, and the absorption of their carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels.

In addition to measuring an individual’s Ecological Footprint, the Calculator lets users determine their personal Overshoot Day—the date of Earth Overshoot Day if all of humanity lived the same lifestyle as that user.

In 2017, Earth Overshoot Day fell on August 2, so a Personal Overshoot Day prior to August 2 means that the user’s demand on nature is above the global average. A Personal Overshoot Day before May 24 means the user’s Footprint is higher than that of an average Italian. A Personal Overshoot day before May 5 means a Footprint higher than the average French resident, and a Personal Overshoot Day earlier than May 2 means a Footprint higher than the average German.

Fun and mobile, the Footprint Calculator also invites users to help move back Earth Overshoot by taking charge of managing their individual Ecological Footprint, suggesting sustainability solutions, and inviting them to share them on social media with the hashtag #MoveTheDate.

More than 1 million people around the world, including a large proportion of students and educators, have used the Global Footprint Network Footprint Calculator since the release of the newly designed mobile-friendly version on August 2.

The calculator is based on the latest data and methodology from the Global Footprint Network, which measures the Ecological Footprint and biocapacity of more than 200 countries and regions from 1961 to the present day. These resource accounts, based on United Nations data, are available for free on the Ecological Footprint Explorer open data platform at data.footprintnetwork.org.

Additional Resources:

Calculate your individual Ecological Footprint on www.footprintcalculator.org (Italian version will be live May 22 at www.footprintcalculator.org/it.)

Ecological Footprint data from countries around the world is available on the open Footprint Explorer data platform: data.footprintnetwork.org.

Learn more about Earth Overshoot Day: www.overshootday.org

Country Overshoot Days Infographic: www.overshootday.org/newsroom/country-overshoot-days/

Follow #MoveTheDate on social networks.

About Global Footprint Network
Global Footprint Network is changing how the world manages its natural resources and responds to climate change, through:

• indicators that are simple, relevant and adaptable at different scales
• useful information on the consumption and availability of natural resources; and
• tools and analysis to guide decision making.

www.footprintnetwork.org

About Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena
Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena is an Italian nonprofit organization that promotes and supports socioeconomic development of the Siena community. Established after the Italian banking sector was restructured in the 1990s, the organization’s mission is to support widespread sustainable wellbeing by playing a constitutive, proposing, and collaborative role and providing innovative knowledge and design to other institutions with a shared strategic vision.
www.fondazionemps.it

Media Contacts:

Alessandro Galli, Ph.D. (Italiano e inglese)
Direttore del Programma Mediterraneo
Global Footprint Network
+39 347 9034977 (Italy, GMT+1)
alessandro.galli@footprintnetwork.org

Ronna Kelly (English)
Director, Marketing & Communications
Global Footprint Network
+1 510 834-2563 (California, PDT = GMT-7h)
ronna.kelly@footprintnetwork.org

Samanta Bora (Italian)
Ufficio Stampa
Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena
+39 0577246054 (Italy, GMT+1)
ufficio.stampa@fondazionemps.it

The post May 24 is Italian Overshoot Day; Global Footprint Network and Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena launch Italian Footprint Calculator appeared first on Global Footprint Network.

Le Jour du Dépassement Planétaire est la date à laquelle la demande annuelle de l’humanité sur la nature (Empreinte Écologique) dépasse la capacité de la Terre à régénérer des ressources naturelles sur l’année entière (biocapacité).

« En 2018, si toute l’humanité consommait comme les Français, elle aurait exploité l’équivalent des capacités de régénération de 2,9 Terre. Un résultat bien au-dessus de la moyenne planétaire qui évolue ces dernières années autour de 1,7 Terre. Et bien entendu, très éloigné du niveau soutenable à l’échelle de notre seule planète, » indique le rapport « L’Autre Déficit de la France » produit par WWF France en partenariat avec Global Footprint Network et publié aujourd’hui.

Le Jour du Dépassement de la France est calculé en élargissant l’Empreinte Écologique des Français à l’échelle de la population mondiale, puis en la comparant à la biocapacité planétaire. Logement, transport et alimentation constituent plus des deux tiers de l’Empreinte Écologique des Français. Les autres biens et services (activités culturelles et de loisirs, télécommunications, services financiers et assurances…) constituent le tiers restant. Le rapport préconise des stratégies de politiques publiques adaptées.

De la même manière, le calculateur d’Empreinte Écologique individuelle de Global Footprint Network, disponible en version française dès aujourd’hui, élargit cette Empreinte individuelle à l’échelle de la population mondiale, puis la compare à la biocapacité planétaire pour révéler la date du Jour du Dépassement Personnel.

L’Empreinte Écologique d’une personne mesure la quantité de surface productive requise pour fournir tout ce que cette personne utilise, y compris nourriture, fibres et bois, infrastructures urbaines et absorption de leurs émissions de dioxyde de carbone liées à sa consommation d’énergies fossiles. Elle est calculée grâce à un questionnaire détaillé.

La date du Jour du Dépassement Personnel indique quand serait le Jour du Dépassement Planétaire si l’humanité entière menait le même style de vie que l’utilisateur. En 2017, le Jour du Dépassement Planétaire est intervenu le 2 août, donc un Jour du Dépassement Personnel antérieur au 2 août signifie que la demande de l’utilisateur sur la nature est supérieure à la moyenne mondiale ; antérieur au 5 mai, et sa demande est supérieure à celle d’un Français moyen; au 14 mars, et elle est supérieure à celle d’un Américain moyen; au 20 décembre, et elle est supérieure à celle d’un Vietnamien moyen.

Le Jour du Dépassement Planétaire avance un peu plus dans le calendrier presque chaque année depuis que l’humanité a commencé à creuser son déficit écologique au début des années 1970. Les coûts du déficit écologique mondial sont de plus en plus évidents dans le monde comme en atteste l’endommagement du capital naturel sous forme de déforestation, d’érosion des sols, d’appauvrissement de la biodiversité, ou encore d’accumulation de carbone dans l’atmosphère.

« Notre planète est limitée, mais les possibilités humaines ne le sont pas. Vivre selon les moyens que nous accordent notre planète est technologiquement possible, financièrement bénéfique et notre seule chance pour un avenir prospère, » a déclaré Mathis Wackernagel, PDG de Global Footprint Network et co-créateur de l’Empreinte Écologique. « Nous espérons que notre nouveau calculateur d’Empreinte permettra à des millions de personnes à travers le monde d’explorer des solutions de durabilité, et de trouver une inspiration dans le champ des possibles qui s’offre à notre société contemporaine. »

Ludique et mobile, le calculateur d’Empreinte ne se contente pas d’évaluer l’impact des utilisateurs sur la planète et sur les émissions de carbone. Il les invite à contribuer à faire reculer la date (#movethedate) du Jour du Dépassement Planétaire en prenant en charge la gestion de leur Empreinte Écologique individuelle, suggère des solutions de durabilité et invite à les partager sur les médias sociaux.

Plus de 1 million de personnes dans le monde, dont une large proportion d’étudiants et d’éducateurs, ont utilisé le calculateur d’Empreinte de Global Footprint Network depuis le lancement de la nouvelle version le 2 août dernier.

Le calculateur est basé sur les dernières données et méthodologie de Global Footprint Network, qui tient la comptabilité précise de l’utilisation et de la capacité de régénération de ressources écologiques de plus de 200 pays et régions de 1961 à nos jours. Ces comptes de ressources s’appuient sur les données des Nations Unies. Les résultats sont disponibles en ligne sur la plate-forme ouverte de données Ecological Footprint Explorer data.footprintentwork.org.

Pour en savoir plus

Lisez le rapport : https://www.footprintnetwork.org/content/uploads/2018/05/2018_lautre_deficit_de_la_france.pdf.

Calculez votre Empreinte Écologique individuelle sur www.footprintcalculator.org/fr.

Suivez #movethedate sur les réseaux sociaux.

Les données d’Empreinte Écologique des pays du monde entier sont disponibles sur la plateforme ouverte de données Footprint Explorer: data.footprintnetwork.org.

À propos de Global Footprint Network

Global Footprint Network modifie la façon dont le monde gère ses ressources naturelles, à travers

• des indicateurs qui sont simples, pertinents et adaptables à diverses échelles;
• des informations utiles sur la consommation et la disponibilité des ressources naturelles; et
• des outils et des analyses pour guider la prise de décision.

Contacts presse:

Laetitia Mailhes (francophone)
Media & Outreach
Global Footprint Network
+1 415 794 2882 (Californie, PDT = GMT-7h)
laetitia.mailhes@footprintnetwork.org

Ronna Kelly (anglophone) – California, United States
Director, Marketing & Communications
Global Footprint Network
+1 510 834-2563 (Californie, PDT = GMT-7h)
ronna.kelly@footprintnetwork.org

The post Le Jour du Dépassement de la France tombe le 5 mai appeared first on Global Footprint Network.

What is my Ecological Footprint? How do I measure it? These questions were answered when I was introduced to Global Footprint Network’s Footprint Calculator. The Calculator illustrated how much nature I use by showing me the number of Earths we would need if everyone lived like me. It was an eye opening experience! I could not believe more than one Earth would be needed, let alone the four that were shown as my result.

The Calculator helped me evaluate my lifestyle and discover how the choices I make impact the Earth. Where my family’s food comes from and where we buy it has the largest effect on my Ecological Footprint. Oftentimes, my family chooses to shop conveniently rather than buying local. The Calculator’s tangible solutions made me realize I could reduce my Footprint by encouraging my family to buy locally, whenever possible. We are now trying to switch from buying conventional meat to shopping at a local butcher and buy local dairy products, specifically milk. My goal is that we will reduce our meat consumption, which will lower our family’s Ecological Footprint.

After using the Calculator and learning that energy was my second largest category, I knew I needed to make some changes. I never fully realized how much I depended on cars as a means of transportation. Now, I am inspired to walk, use public transit, and carpool more often. I plan to use these transportation options instead of driving, whenever possible. Especially in the warmer months, I would love to bicycle to my friends’ houses and to my recreational activities. I will also continue to carpool to my field hockey practices. Another significant aspect of my energy use is electricity. I plan to evaluate the light bulbs in my house and change them to LED bulbs. Switching to LEDs and limiting the amount I drive will reduce my energy usage.

Global Footprint Network’s Footprint Calculator was easy to use and gave me simple, tangible solutions to reduce my Footprint on the Earth. After answering the questions on the Calculator and evaluating my results, I am committed to reducing the resources I use and making lifestyle changes to decrease my Footprint. This tool was an eye opener for me and I hope it can be the same for others. Now it is time to ask yourself…what is your Ecological Footprint?

Bridget is a high school student in Alexandria, VA. She was a Project Green Challenge (PGC) 2017 Finalist, and is now serving on Turning Green’s PGC and Conscious College Road Tour Student Advisory Board Committees. Bridget was a founding member of the Watershed Warriors Initiative, a school club and now non-profit that educates elementary school students on environmental issues. She is involved in many activities at her school, including the Superintendent’s Student Leadership Committee, the varsity field hockey team, and the National English Honor Society (NEHS).

The post Footprint Calculator is an eye opener – Project Green Challenge Winner appeared first on Global Footprint Network.

It is unfortunate for the world that only few companies have such a business model. Therefore, we are doubly excited to collaborate with corporate partners who have recognized what’s needed not just for sustainability, but for their own success. As sustainability becomes the driver of a company’s business success, it also expands the company’s own long-term viability. That’s why Schneider’s CEO rigorously monitors how many times more Footprint Schneider helps its clients save compared to what it takes to run Schneider Electric.

We recently talked with Xavier Houot, Senior Vice President Safety, Environment, and Real Estate, at Schneider’s offices in Paris about the company’s strategic outlook.

How did you first become acquainted with the Ecological Footprint metric?

I’ve been an environmentalist for as long as I can remember, already as a child growing up in a mountainous area of France. It’s only natural that I would discover the work of Mathis Wackernagel (co-founder of Global Footprint Network) the moment he published his work and started receiving prizes in the 1990s. In a world economy where GDP growth was the golden metric, Mathis was one of the first people I know of who would not only question consumption patterns (on the heels of Meadows, Dobson, Strong, Brundtland, back to Gandhi, Thoreau, Aristotle, etc.) but also quantify, simplify, and help each of us understand how massive the use of natural resources is, beyond the issue of carbon emissions.

This was all the more interesting to me that, when leading sustainability consulting practices between 2004 and 2014, my team and I would already use tools with clients such as “sustainability stress tests,” looking at both the environmental and social impacts of their business models and practices, and helping them define “planet-compatible” growth paths. We were clear that consumers—whether corporations or individuals—ought to be encouraged to take on the responsibility of the choices they make.

I started using the phrase “move Earth Overshoot Day” at the beginning of 2017 when speaking in front of customers. And I was thrilled when I found out that #movethedate was precisely the motto of the Earth Overshoot Day campaign last year!

How do you view your role at Schneider Electric?

I joined Schneider Electric in 2014, after spending most of my career as a sustainability and strategy consultant, including as a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers for almost 10 years, then EY – including four years living in India and working at EY India.

My passion is to move beyond talking about corporate responsibility with customers and focus on concrete win-win-win opportunities where the planet wins, together with our business performance and that of our customers. In this context, my role is to focus, on the one hand, on our own resource productivity with a view to decoupling our own supply-chain impacts from planet-resources intake, and on the other hand on the performance of our technologies on our customers’ end. After all, our customers also want resource productivity, circularity, health and safety, and more transparency—especially about the sustainability of our products, both in terms of how they are produced and of the impact they can expect from them on their own operations.

How is Schneider Electric contributing to #movethedate?

Schneider Electric generates €25 billion in revenue per year (2016). I am proud to witness that this commercial success comes from selling technologies that allow companies across sectors of the economy to “#movethedate.” And we’ve been doing it for a while. We are able now to demonstrate and quantify that “more Schneider Electric is a better climate.” And we will be reporting externally on related CO2 emissions numbers quarterly, starting April 2018. Through our EcoStruxure solutions for buildings, plants, power, grid, machine, data centers, and through our renewable energy enabling solutions, energy management software, and other value propositions, we will help our customers avoid more than 100 million tons (Mt) of CO2 emissions in the next three years, which is far more than the amount we’ll emit in same period to procure, make, and transport related offerings.

Our own operations include 200 factories and 100 distribution centers worldwide. We do measure and track our Ecological Footprint, and do intend to lead by example by contributing to #movethedate through improving the sustainability of our own operations. In our quarterly conference calls with investors, for instance, our performance analysis touches upon our progress and performances on topics such as eco-design, energy efficiency, transportation-related CO2, zero-waste-to-landfill sites, and now the amount of CO2 emissions and natural resources consumption that were avoided thanks to our circular supply chain, and the progress of our Green Premium ecolabel sales.

Sustainability is our raison d’être.

When did Schneider Electric embark on that path?

It was around 2005 when our CEO, Jean-Pascal Tricoire, explicitly and boldly connected our business strategy and value propositions with our sustainability strategy. He spelled out how they depend upon each other, stating that the success of the latter would fuel the former. From that point on, the company was able to hone a very clear message that’s all about business and sustainability strategies being aligned. This also accelerated technology innovation in order to support this approach.

I believe one of our competitive advantages in the market today is that our technologies are part of the solution to #movethedate. Our products are very closely aligned with our stated mission. For instance, at time of COP21 and ahead of the Paris Agreement, we had allocated $300 million R&D budget and floated a climate bond for low-carbon innovations, touching data centers, buildings, and smart grids. This climate bond received worldwide recognition for its innovative nature, precisely because of its R&D focus. Such efforts are ongoing obviously.

How do you share the sustainability message with customers?

We’re not about preaching to customers. What we do is provide them with, first, great technologies, second, digitized information about these technologies’ performances, environmental footprint, and end-of-life instructions. Studies show that our customers report seeing value-add from our EcoStruxure solutions in terms of improved operations transparency, resource efficiency, resilience, safety, performance, and with virtuous ripple effects across their activity.

Do you see sustainability becoming a growing concern in the corporate world?

We’re definitely seeing a growing awareness in the corporate world, and in civil society too. More and more companies are now joining the sustainability conversation, making commitments, innovating, even reinventing themselves at times, which is great! A major challenge sometimes remains translating “corporate responsibility” commitments into business offerings or value propositions.

However, with the equivalent of 1.7 planets being consumed each year and a current trajectory heading towards +4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, it is imperative that the economy as a whole and each one of us move a lot faster and a lot more drastically if we want to witness significant positive change going forward.

My personal take is that all the above has to start with each one of us through the way we eat, move around, buy, heat/cool our homes. This is where change is required first, then the rest will follow. Let’s each of us #movethedate!

The post Q&A with Xavier Houot: Schneider Electric’s business model aims to #movethedate appeared first on Global Footprint Network.

The post Be Good to the Environment in 2018 appeared first on Global Footprint Network.

Friends of our Ecological Footprint Calculator around the world share their experiences using this popular tool as students and educators.

Join our Adopt-a-Country campaign now to add languages and country data to the calculator to educate millions more people about sustainability.

The post Friends of the Footprint Calculator appeared first on Global Footprint Network.

Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, and Global Footprint Network, an international research organization that has pioneered the Ecological Footprint resource accounting metric, are joining forces to promote sustainable solutions that are available today and estimate their impact on moving the date of Earth Overshoot Day. For instance, reducing the energy intensity of homes, buildings, and cities will #movethedate of Overshoot Day; halving the carbon component of the global Ecological Footprint would move the date of Overshoot Day by 89 days. Humanity needs to move the date only 4.5 days per year to operate within the means of our one planet before 2050.

Global Footprint Network is highlighting four solution areas to #movethedate: cities, energy, food, and population. A new mobile-friendly Footprint Calculator launched by the organization for Earth Overshoot Day 2017 highlights these four solution areas after users have calculated their Ecological Footprint and personal Earth Overshoot Day.

We hope our new Footprint Calculator enables millions more people around the world to explore sustainability solutions and gain an uplifting sense of the possibilities available to society. Many of these solutions directly align with Schneider Electric’s values, practices, and capabilities in the energy and city solutions space. Schneider Electric is a logical partner as a company whose business model focuses on creating a sustainable future.

Global Footprint Network’s previous calculator was used by more than 2 million people last year, including students and teachers. In addition to a greater focus on solutions, the new calculator features the latest Footprint data and methodology as well as updated graphics.

For more than 10 years, Schneider Electric has been committed to reducing the impact of natural resources usage in its own operations and the operations of its customers:

• Schneider Electric serves four key end-markets which account for about 70 percent of the world’s energy consumption, representing a significant opportunity to curb energy consumption and drive global economy’s planet-compatibility;
• On behalf of its clients, Schneider Electric has transacted on more than 60 million megawatt- hours of green power and more than 1.5 megatons of carbon offsets in more than 30 countries, including advising on over 2.1 gigawatt installed capacity of new build wind and solar projects. The company has provided renewable energy and carbon offsets to more than 8,000 global LEED® certified green building projects;
• The company is on track to reaching its target score of 9/10 on its externally audited Planet & Society barometer. The barometer’s 16 indicators measure Schneider’s progress in environmental areas such as Climate Change and Circular Economy. The company’s latest score in the second quarter of 2017 was 8.91.

Through our partnership with Global Footprint Network, Schneider Electric aims to further promote one-planet compatibility in our global economy and mobilize citizens, other companies, and governments around the world to help #movethedate of Earth Overshoot Day back to December 31. Building an always more sustainable global supply chain, and designing increasingly resource-efficient offerings for our customers is our obsession. Our EcoStruxure solutions reduce energy and CO2 intensity of homes, buildings, cities, grids, data centers, industries, and they help #movethedate.

About Global Footprint Network

Global Footprint Network is a research organization that is changing how the world manages its natural resources and responds to climate change. Since 2003 we’ve engaged with more than 50 nations, 30 cities, and 70 global partners to deliver scientific insights that have driven high-impact policy and investment decisions. Together, we’re creating a future where all of us can thrive within our planet’s limits.

www.footprintnetwork.org

About Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric is the global specialist in energy management and automation. With revenues of ~€25 billion in FY2016, our 144,000 employees serve customers in over 100 countries, helping them to manage their energy and process in ways that are safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable. From the simplest of switches to complex operational systems, our technology, software and services improve the way our customers manage and automate their operations. Our connected technologies reshape industries, transform cities and enrich lives. At Schneider Electric, we call this Life Is On.

www.schneider-electric.com

Discover Life Is On Discover EcoStruxure

Follow us on:

@EndOvershoot @SchneiderElec

Hashtags: #movethedate #LifeIsOn #IoT #EcoStruxure #CircularEconomy #SchneiderElectric

Related resources:

• www.overshootday.org
• www.footprintcalculator.org
• sdreport.schneider-electric.com
• www.schneider-electric.com/en/about-us/sustainability/sustainable- performance/barometer.jsp

The post Schneider Electric partners with Global Footprint Network to #movethedate of Earth Overshoot Day appeared first on Global Footprint Network.