Ecological Footprint

Bert Beyers, Mathis Wackernagel, Katharina Rout

Description

• Print Run 10,000
• Co-op available
• Features offered to Sierra, Orion, Yes! Magazine
• Excerpt offered to UTNE Reader, Wall St Journal, The Economist, New Internationalist.
• E-mail promotion to the Global Footprint Network mailing list of 800k people
• Publicity and promotion in conjunction with authors speaking engagements and events including Earth Overshoot Day
• Simultaneous ebook release and promotion
• Promotion on New Society Publishers social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, our blog, Pinterest, Instagram, and Youtube
• Promotion on author's websites: www.footprintnetwork.org, www.overshootday.org

• Author is the president and co-founder of the Global Footprint Network
• He is an internationally respected speaker and the winner of several prestigious environmental awards including 2018 the World Sustainability Award , 2015 the IAIA Global Environment Award and 2012 the Blue Planet Prize
• He has twice been listed among the world's most inspiring people by the OOOM magazine
• Named him one of the Zeronaut 50 Roll of Honor by John Elkington
• He has lectured at hundreds of universities and met with leaders of over 50 countries
• The Global Footprint Network arose in 2003 out of the best-selling book, Our Ecological Footprint which has sold nearly 40 000 copies
• The Global Footprint Network has over 800 thousand members and their annual event, Earth Overshoot Day, now reaches 3 billion media impressions
• Biological capacity is the most critical material limitation to human enterprise. Footprint accounting tracks how much regeneration is possible on the planet compared to how much humans use.
• Currently, demand exceeds regeneration by 70%
• Ecological Footprint accounting is the only comprehensive metric able to compare human demand and what nature can provide
• A complete introduction to the Ecological Footprint approach including key results and applications
• Helps governments respond effectively to pressing issues of climate change and population
• Links planetary limits to decision making process
• Process distills actions into one number that represents the planet's bottom line
• Academically rigorous and written in accessible language
• Differs from other books on sustainability because it is broader and provides tools that can be immediately put to use for specific goals and outcomes
• Provides examples of how to manage common planetary resources
• Includes Footprint scenarios and provides pathways to follow out of overshoot
• Contains case studies using the Ecological Footprint tool for individuals, cities and countires
• Provides guidelines for use in businesses and municipalities

Audience:
Economists, planners, environmentalists, municipalities, sustainability experts, students, anyone planning for climate change

International:

• The Global Footprint Network is known around the world and is particularly well known in Switzerland; Japan; Ecuador; Philippines; United Arab Emirates; Luxembourg; Belgium; France; Indonesia; Montenegro; Slovenia; European Union; Costa Rica
• Includes case studies from China and Africa
• Author is Swiss/American citizen
• Has worked on 6 continents
• Mathis’ awards include the 2018 World Sustainability Award, the 2015 IAIA Global Environment Award, the 2012 Blue Planet Prize, the 2012 Binding-Prize for Nature Conservation, the 2012 Kenneth E. Boulding Memorial Award of the International Society for Ecological Economics, the 2011 Zayed International Prize for the Environment (jointly awarded with UNEP), an honorary doctorate from the University of Berne, and the 2007 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, the 2006 WWF Award for Conservation Merit and 2005 Herman Daly Award of the U.S. Society for Ecological Economics.
• Link to their mobile footprint calculator.  https://www.footprintcalculator.org/
• Link to graphic illustrating each country’s footprint.  http://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/?

Canada:

• Our Ecological Footprint was co-authored by William Rees from University of BC
• The concept of Ecological Footprint is widely understood and used in Canada. WWF Canada uses Ecological Footprinting and Earth Overshoot day for major campaigns

The only metric that tracks how much nature we have – and how much nature we use

Ecological Footprint accounting, first introduced in the 1990s and continuously developed, continues to be the only metric that compares overall human demand on nature with what our planet can renew — its biocapacity — and distils this into one number: how many Earths we use.

Our economy is running a Bernie Madoff-style Ponzi scheme with the planet. We use future resources to run the present, using more than Earth can replenish. Like any such scheme, this works for a limited time, followed by a crash.

Avoiding ecological bankruptcy requires rigorous resource accounting — a challenging task, but doable with the right tools.

Ecological Footprint provides a complete introduction, covering:

• Footprint and biocapacity accounting


• Data and key findings for nations


• Worldwide examples including businesses, cities, and countries


• Strategies for creating regenerative economies

Whether you’re a student, business leader, future-oriented city planner, economist, or have an abiding interest in humanity’s future, Footprint and biocapacity are key parameters to be reckoned with and Ecological Footprint is your essential guide.

AWARDS

• SILVER | 2020 Eric Zencey Prize


• SILVER | 2019 Nautilus Book Awards: Ecology & Environment


• FINALIST | 2019 Foreword INDIES: Ecology & Environment

Prelude
Footprint — Why? (Introduction)

Part I: Footprint — The Tool
1. Area as Currency — How Much Biocapacity Does a Person Need?
2. Ecological Hinterland — How Much Biocapacity Does a City Need?
3. Croplands, Forests, and Oceans — How Much Biocapacity Do We Have?
4. One Planet — Ecological Limits and Then What?
5. Footprint as Compass — How Much Biocapacity Do We Need for a Good Life?

Part II: Footprint — Challenges Defining the 21st Century
6. End Overshoot! — Communication Is Key
7. Winners and Losers — Strategies for Countries to Consider
8. Footprint Scenarios — Ways out of Global Overshoot

Part III: Footprint — Case Studies
9. Footprint Calculations — Individuals, Cities, Countries, Products, and Companies
10. Footprint in Architecture and City Planning— BedZED, Masdar City, and Peter Seidel
11. China — A New Model of Development?
12. Africa — Protecting One's Resources
13. Footprint — A Conversation

Acknowledgments: Who is Powering All This?
Glossary
Notes
Index
About the Authors
About New Society Publishers

Sujets

• Environmental Policy
• Public Policy
• Environmental Economics
• Global Warming
• Environmental Science
• Environmental Protection
• Environmental Conservation
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• New Economics
• Climatology
• Climate change
• Environment
• Nature

Informations

• Publié par: New Society Publishers
• Date de parution: 03 septembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781771423007
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Praise for Ecological Footprint
How much of the Earth s biocapacity are humans using? Before the Ecological Footprint , no one knew for sure. Now, we have the equivalent of an instrument panel. This is a momentous development, and one that all citizens of the planet should know about - because the warning lights are flashing red.
- Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute, author of The End of Growth and Peak Everything
This excellent book helps us understand and truly appreciate Nature s capacity to continue to provide life support for our planet and for all of its inhabitants.
- Julia Marton-Lef vre, Former Director General, International Union of Conservation of Nature
The great challenge for humanity in the 21st century is not to stop the growth of the economy, but to stop the growth in the human ecological footprint - and eventually bring it back to one planet. This important book by the inventors of the concept explains why and how.
- Prof. Jorgen Randers, former President of the BI Norwegian Business School, coauthor of The Limits to Growth , author of 2052 - A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years
If we did to our bank account what we have been doing to the Earth s natural capital we would have been bankrupt long ago. The planet has been extremely lenient with us but that resilience is about to give way to a natural and human crisis. This book is a loud wake up call to everyone.
- Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary, UNFCCC
In the nick of time, as humanity crashes up against the resource limitations of our collective twenty first century lifestyles, Ecological Footprint provides a clear eyed and accessible analysis of the challenge. With clarity and compassion, Ecological Footprint reveals both our alarming self-inflicted situation and the way forward. Wackernagel and Beyers well written book has the power to turn the tide.
- Thomas E. Lovejoy, Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, Institute for a Sustainable Earth George Mason University
A superb treatment of Ecological Footprint accounting as a part of our global balance sheet. Regardless of whether you are a student, a teacher, or an economist, you will find much of substantial importance in this book.
- Peter H. Raven, President Emeritus, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
Looking for a science based practical tool to navigate your future on Earth? Here it is. Ecological Footprint provides an integrated and concrete measure of our human pressure on the Planet. We all urgently need to reconnect our lives to planet Earth and adopt a biocapacity approach to modern life, translating it into concrete steps of how each and every one of us can contribute to building resilient and sustainable societies.
- Prof. Johan Rockstr m, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Human societies live - and die - by cultural myths including the catastrophic modern myth of perpetual economic growth. With their update of the Ecological Footprint , Wackernagel and Beyers wield the most effective myth-busting tool available. Failure to read this book should disqualify any would-be elected official from running for office.
- William Rees is a human ecologist, ecological economist and former Director of UBC s School of Community and Regional Planning in Vancouver. He co-developed the ecological footprint with Mathis Wackernagel
At a time when we must find ways to urgently respond to the existential threats of climate change and ecosystems extinction, this book systematically lays before us the accounting metric necessary to evaluate a world in overshoot. Almost 50 years ago two of the Limits to Growth scenarios predicted global system overshoot and collapse by the mid- to latter-part of the 21st century. Today ecological footprinting, if adopted by governments and business leaders, alongside comparable planetary solutions, could help navigate our emergence from emergency.
- Sandrine Dixson-Decl ve, Co-President, The Club of Rome

Copyright 2019 by Mathis Wackernagel and Bert Beyers.
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
Cover photo (leaves) and illustration (footprint): iStock
Initial English Translation by Katharina Rout.
Interior illustrations by Phil Testemale.
Printed in Canada. First printing September 2019.
Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Ecological Footprint should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below. To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com
Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:
New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
[phone]
L IBRARY AND A RCHIVES C ANADA C ATALOGUING IN P UBLICATION
Title: Ecological footprint : managing our biocapacity budget / by Mathis Wackernagel and Bert Beyers.
Other titles: Footprint. English
Names: Wackernagel, Mathis, 1962- author. | Beyers, Bert, author. | Rout, Katharina, translator.
Description: Translation of: Footprint: Die Welt neu vermessen. | Translated by Katharina Rout. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190099534 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190099542 | ISBN 9780865719118 (softcover) | ISBN 9781550927047 ( PDF ) | ISBN 9781771423007 ( EPUB )
Subjects: LCSH : Environmental economics. | LCSH : Economic development-Environmental aspects. | LCSH : Human ecology. | LCSH : Nature-Effect of human beings on. | LCSH : Environmental protection. | LCSH : Conservation of natural resources. | LCSH : Sustainability.
Classification: LCC HC 79. E 5 W 3313 2019 | DDC 333.7- DC 23

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision.
Contents
Prelude
Footprint - Why? (Introduction)
Part I: Footprint - The Tool
1. Area as Currency - How Much Biocapacity Does a Person Need?
2. Ecological Hinterland - How Much Biocapacity Does a City Need?
3. Croplands, Forests, and Oceans - How Much Biocapacity Do We Have?
4. One Planet - Ecological Limits and Then What?
5. Footprint as Compass - How Much Biocapacity Do We Need for a Good Life?
Part II: Footprint - Challenges Defining the 21st Century
6. End Overshoot! - Communication Is Key
7. Winners and Losers - Strategies for Countries to Consider
8. Footprint Scenarios - Ways out of Global Overshoot
Part III: Footprint - Case Studies
9. Footprint Calculations - Individuals, Cities, Countries, Products, and Companies
10. Footprint in Architecture and City Planning - BedZED, Masdar City, and Peter Seidel
11. China - A New Model of Development?
12. Africa - Protecting One s Resources
13. Footprint - A Conversation
Acknowledgments: Who is Powering All This?
Glossary
Notes
Index
About the Authors
About New Society Publishers
Prelude
by Mathis Wackernagel
This book is not really about the Ecological Footprint. Rather it is about biocapacity - our planet s biological power to regenerate and reproduce plant matter. This primary productivity of nature is the source for all life, including human life.
Biocapacity is not an invention or a method, the same way gravity isn t. Both are a force of nature that we can observe and measure. 1
The importance of biocapacity is rising. Given climate change and resource constraints, biocapacity, or rather how we manage it, is increasingly determining humanity s future. Humanity s poor stewardship of biocapacity has made it the materially most limiting factor for the human enterprise. Understanding biocapacity s relevance therefore empowers us to build countries, cities, or economies that can thrive for good, rather than being marred by surprises.
This is why I dedicate this book to the foresters, farmers, conservationists, park rangers, and fishery managers of the world, and in particular Fritz Jenni, an astute farmer from Langenbruck, Switzerland, who generously took me under his wings from my early boyhood to my teenage years, and taught me about nature s cycles, miracles, and powers. Fritz Jenni s love for the land and its animals, especially all people, continues to inspire me. He helped me see how biocapacity is the ultimate force enabling everything we do. Thank you, Fritz!
My dear friend Bert Beyers developed the German version of this book with me after spending a multi-month sabbatical with us in Oakland. This English version is updated and amended, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as Bert and I enjoyed the journey of making our ideas accessible to those who care about our planet s future.
I am also deeply grateful of all those who have accompanied me on the journey. One who stands out is Bill Rees, who evolved from being a teacher to being a friend. Working with him as we developed the first version of the Ecological Footprint during my PhD dissertation in the early 1990s was deeply enriching. Another indefatigable partner in crime is Susan Burns, without whom the Global Footprint Network venture would not have flourished. She started Global Footprint Network with me in 2003, shortly after giving life to our son Andr . Susan s vision, dedication, unstoppable energy, and relentless quest for what s next have made more possible than I could have imagined.
My wonderful colleagues in the proper and extended Global Footprint Network have put strong legs on our initially rather wobbly ideas. They ended up contributing even be