July 29, 2021: Earth Overshoot Day
Today is Earth Overshoot Day. This means that the world's population has already exhausted the natural resources that the earth can produce per year. From today onwards, we will be living on the planet's reserves. Every year that we use more than what the earth can produce, the earth's regenerative capacity decreases. As a result, fewer natural raw materials are ultimately produced. So time for action.
It Global Footprint Network (GFN) calculates every year the impact of humans on our planet. The sum made is as follows: the global biocapacity is divided by the ecological footprint per person. This is then multiplied by 365. Based on this sum, the day on which the world population used its natural resources is determined. So that day is today, July 29. There is also a distinction to be made as to when an 'overshoot day' takes place in different countries. Suppose the whole world lived like the Netherlands, then this 'overshoot day' would have already taken place on April 27, 2 months earlier than now. So we are doing a lot worse than the world as a whole. This puts the Netherlands in the top 20 of countries that deplete the earth the most. Qatar takes the cake in this list, with an 'overshoot day' on February 9, 2021, where Indonesia is last with an 'overshoot day' on December 18, 2021. Ideally, Earth Overshoot Day would of course take place on December 31 or later, but unfortunately the last time this happened was in 1970. In recent decades, this day has been falling earlier and earlier in the year, with the result that the world population currently needs almost two Earths to meet demand.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Fortunately, there is also hope. If the day occurs 5 days later every year, this means that in 2050 Earth Overshoot Day will fall on December 31. This year is not entirely out of the blue, as it is also the year in which the Paris climate goals must be achieved. The GFN has therefore created the hashtag #movethedate, to encourage private individuals, companies and governments to work towards this goal. There is an opportunity here for entrepreneurs to put their company on the map and make an impact, after all, Earth Overshoot Day shows that future-proof and socially responsible entrepreneurship is no longer a choice, but an obligation. Issuemakers shares this view and can help companies contribute to this movement. In addition, Issuemakers also helps to get the company more publicity, generating more attention for the subject and the company itself.
Earth Overshoot Day is a day that raises awareness of this topic in a way that is clear to everyone. If we continue like this, we will need two or more Earths to meet our raw material needs. Everyone, young and old, understands that this is impossible. Ultimately, we only have one earth that can provide us with water, food and air. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure that we do not completely erode the same earth and to put initiatives such as #movethedate on the agenda.
