Nature to society: Pay up

Of all the unsustainable trends society is following, the global eco-debt is not only the largest, but is growing worse rapidly.

This year, humanity officially consumed all the resources the world can replenish naturally as of 21 August … from here on, our consumption will push Earth’s natural systems into the red. The so-called “Earth Overshoot Day” arrives more than a month earlier than it did last year, when society exhausted the planet’s sustainable resources on 25 September.

In other words, we’re now collectively living on eco-credit … something nature cannot extend for long.

“If you spent your entire annual income in nine months, you would probably be extremely concerned,” said Mathis Wackernagel, president of the Global Footprint Network, which calculates the date of Earth Overshoot Day’s arrival each year. “The situation is no less dire when it comes to our ecological budget. Climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, water and food shortages — these are all clear signs that we can no longer finance our consumption on credit. Nature is foreclosing.”

“From the 21st August, humanity will, in effect, start to overstretch and undermine its own life-support systems,” added Andrew Simms, policy director at nef (the new economics foundation), which developed the concept of Earth Overshoot Day. “While we tolerate huge changes to how we live in response to the crisis created by our reckless banking system, nothing is being done to prevent us going further into ecological debt.”

The problem is not just one of overconsumption, but pointless consumption. Last year, for example, the UK exported 131,000 tonnes of chewing gum to Spain and imported 125,00 tonnes back again; exported 3,300 tonnes of soft toys to New Zealand, and then imported 2,400 tonnes back again; and exported 43,000 tonnes of toffee to France while at the same time importing 39,000 tonnes from the French.

The solution to ending such unsustainable habits and pushing back the date of Earth Overshoot Day until we’re no longer amassing eco-debt, according to nef, is a “Great Transition.” The UK-based think tank outlined its vision for such a transition in a publication late last year that argued for a turn away from GDP-based notions of growth, a more equal distribution of incomes and assets across society, reduced social inequality and greater protection of natural resources to ensure biodiversity and minimise the impacts of climate change.

So can we get there from here? What do you think the likely outcome will be in years to come:

• Ever-worsening eco-debt and a widening social gap in which only the wealthiest can flourish?
• Complete social collapse and chaos?
• A better-late-than-never, painful yet ultimately beneficial transition to a more sustainable society?
• Something else? (If you choose this option, let us know what that “something else” might be.)

Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below or email us to let us know where you stand.