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WWF Report: ‘Humanity’s demands exceed our planet’s capacity to sustain us’

Kenneth Hill | 15.10.10

"Populations of tropical species are plummeting and humanity’s demands on natural resources are sky-rocketing to 50 per cent more than the earth can sustain, new analysis in the 2010 edition of WWF’s Living Planet Report – the leading survey of the planet’s health – reveals."

So starts an announcement from WWF on the release of its biennial report on the state of our planet. The upshot assessment that in 2007, 1.5 Earths would have been needed to accommodate humanity's resource demands, is mind-blowing. The report estimates that by 2036, two Earths would be needed at the current rates of consumption.

The UK ranks 31st on the highest resource users in the report's table of Ecological Footprint per country, per person. The top 5 are UAE, Quatar, Denmark, Belgium, and the US.

Denmark's ranking seems somewhat incongruous with the way most people think about Denmark (progressive, environmentally conscious). The Copenhagen Post outlines the reasons why they are failing -- pork production and consumption being a main indicator. l

There is an enormous amount of interesting and useful information in the report. I like this link at WWF, which leads you into some of the publication's most compelling stuff, including interactive tools where you can look up different countries and species.

Importantly, there are links to things all of us can do about it.

Living Planet Report 2010