National Geographic Backs Ecological Footprint

Alejandro Litovsky

November 23, 2009

EarthPulse: State of the Earth 2010, which opens with a full page of Global Footprint Network data, offers the clearest endorsement yet by a mainstream publication of the idea of sustainability as living within the means of one planet. This reinforces the vision of Mathis Wackernagel–the pioneering founder of GFN–of the strategic ‘pathways to scale’ for the ecological footprint model, by leveraging connections to mainstream institutions–a topic I explored earlier this year in an interview with Mathis.

EarthPulse: State of the Earth 2010 explores how the trends driving human society such as our growing numbers, our rising consumption, urban migration and global trade are interacting with the resources upon which life depends. It is a story told in stark statistics and even more startling images. Women in Bangladesh wade through neck-high waters as melting Himalayan glaciers cause rivers to swell. Farmland is swallowed by China’s Gobi dessert, advancing 3,900 miles a year due to over-plowing and overgrazing. In Borneo, a scarred stretch of barren earth is all that remains of an old-growth forest.

“On a planet defined by unprecedented change, perhaps our most precious resource has become knowledge,” issue sponsor Allianz writes in the introduction. “Only with access to accurate, unbiased facts can a world brimming with possibilities and perils begin to make sense.”

It is Global Footprint Network’s mission to provide the data that can quantify the scope of the challenge and identify those solutions that will provide meaningful change. With resource accounting tools that enable us to measure and understand our ecological demand, we can begin to weigh our options and chart our course toward a sustainable human future.