Toronto, July 31, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Aug. 1, humanity will have used nature's resource budget for the entire year, according to Global Footprint Network (GFN). This marks the earliest date yet for Earth Overshoot Day — the day humanity's annual demand on nature exceeds what Earth's ecosystems can renew in that year.
Canada’s resource use is one of the highest in the world – if we had a national Earth Overshoot Day, it would fall on March 18.
Media availability:
Megan Leslie, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund Canada, is available for comment on Earth Overshoot Day and consequences for wildlife in Canada.
About Earth Overshoot Day:
- Earth Overshoot Day has moved from late September in 1997 to its earliest date ever this year.
- It is symbolic of the unprecedented pressure mankind and human activities are putting on nature and its resources.
- According to GFN, the estimated level of resources and ecosystem services required to support human activities at their current rate equals 1.7 Earths (as humanity uses nature 1.7 times faster than ecosystems can regenerate).
In Canada:
- Here in Canada, our footprint is much higher than the global average.
- If everyone in the world lived like Canadians, globally we would have reached Earth Overshoot Day on March 18 and we would need the resources of 4.7 Earths to sustain us.
- Canadian wildlife and ecosystems are already feeling the impact of our unsustainable lifestyles, with 50 per cent of monitored vertebrate species experiencing declines of 83 per cent on average and all watersheds experiencing stress from human activities including pollution, climate change, alteration of flows, water use, habitat loss, invasive species and fragmentation.
About World Wildlife Fund Canada
WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. We work in places that are unique and ecologically important, so that nature, wildlife and people thrive together. Because we are all wildlife. For more information, visit wwf.ca.
For further information
Rebecca Spring, senior communications specialist, rspring@wwfcanada.org, +1 647-338-6274
For more information on Ecological Footprint, methodology and factors driving the ecological overshoot:
Global Footprint Network: amanda.diep@footprintnetwork.org or laetitia.mailhes@footprintnetwork.org.
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