Green week debate: ”biodiversity 2010 target is unrealistic”

Humanity could be heading for collapse if there is no “radical rethinking of our cities, consumption patterns, food production and our energy economy”. This was the bleak message of the Green Week session on the EU’s ‘ecological footprint’.

Mathis Wackernagel, one of the founders of Ecological Footprint Accounting, presented an overview of the research done by the Global Footprint Network. “We are in ecological overshoot”, Wackernagel said. On average each person on earth today has an average footprint of 2.2 global hectares compared to the 1.8 hectares per person available. “Europe needs 2.5 Europe’s to support itself”, he continued, “if we continue like this the world will need two planets in 2050 to survive”. What is needed, according to Wackernagel, are accurate accounts of the ecological assets available and usable, and starting with adapting our megacities to ecological sustainability.

EurActive