August 2nd marks this year’s Earth Overshoot Day, according to the latest National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts. They now track countries’ performance up to 2022, reducing reporting lag by three years. However, Earth Overshoot Day’s apparent delay by five days compared to last year’s isn’t all good news, as genuine advancements amount to less than one day. The remaining four days are owed to integrating improved datasets into the accounts’ new edition.
For the last 5 years the trend has flattened. How much of this is driven by economic slow-down or deliberate decarbonization efforts is difficult to discern. Still, overshoot reduction is far too slow. To reach the UN’s IPCC target of reducing carbon emissions 43% worldwide by 2030 compared to 2010 would require moving Earth Overshoot Day 19 days annually for the next seven years.
Simple changes could #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day significantly:
- increasing global low-carbon electricity sources from 39% to 75% would move it by 26 days,
- halving food waste would gain 13 days,
- tree intercropping would earn an extra 2.1 days.
Learn more about how we can “move the date” solutions through interesting readings and appealing infographics and visuals at: https://www.overshootday.org
© 2023 Earth Overshoot Day. Global Footprint Network