The Global Footprint Network was founded in 2003 and is an independent

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

originally based in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It was established as a charitable

not-for-profit organization A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

in each of those three countries. Its aim is to develop and promote tools for advancing sustainability, including the

ecological footprint The ecological footprint measures human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people and their economies. It tracks human demand on nature through an ecological accounting system. The accounts contrast the biolo ...

and

biocapacity The biocapacity or biological capacity of an ecosystem is an estimate of its production of certain biological materials such as natural resources, and its absorption and filtering of other materials such as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Bio ...

, which measure the amount of resources we use and how much we have. These tools aim at bringing ecological limits to the center of decision-making.

Work

Global Footprint Network's goal is to create a future where all humans can live well, within the means of one planet

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

. The organization is headquartered in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The Network brings together over 70 partner organizations, including WWF International,

ICLEI ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI, originally International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) is an international non-governmental organization that promotes sustainable development. ICLEI provides technical consult ...

, Bank Sarasin, The Pictet Group, the

New Economics Foundation The New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a Great Britain, British think-tank that promotes "social, economic and environmental justice". NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) with the aim of working for a "new m ...

, Pronatura México, and the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.

National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts

Every year, Global Footprint Network produced a new edition of its National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts, which calculate Ecological Footprint and

of more than 200 countries and territories from 1961 to the present. Based on up to 15,000 data points per country per year, these data have been used to influence policy in more than a dozen countries, including Ecuador, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Russia, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. Since 2019, the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts are produced in collaboration between Global Footprint Network,

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, and Footprint Data Foundation. The 2022 Edition of the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts cover 1961-2018 (latest UN data available), and incorporate data from the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

, the UN Comtrade database, the

International Energy Agency The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the global energy sector. The 31 member countries and 13 associatio ...

, and over 20 other sources.

Ecological Footprint Explorer

In April 2017, Global Footprint Network launched the Ecological Footprint Explorer, an

open data Open data are data that are openly accessible, exploitable, editable and shareable by anyone for any purpose. Open data are generally licensed under an open license. The goals of the open data movement are similar to those of other "open(-so ...

platform for the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts. The website provides

results for over 200 countries and territories, and encourages researchers, analysts, and decision-makers to visualize and download data.

Earth Overshoot Day

Previously known as Ecological Debt Day,

Earth Overshoot Day Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) is the calculated illustrative calendar date on which humanity's resource consumption for the year exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources that year. In 2024, it fell on 1 August. The term "ecological ...

is the day when humanity has exhausted nature's budget for the year. For the rest of the year, society operates in ecological overshoot by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The first Earth Overshoot Day was December 19, 1987. In 2014, Earth Overshoot Day was August 19. The Earth Overshoot Day in 2015 was on August 13 and on August 8 in 2016. In 2017, Earth Overshoot Day landed on August 2, and in 2020 on August 22.

Founding

In 2003, Mathis Wackernagel,

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

, and Susan Burns founded Global Footprint Network, an international think-tank headquartered in Oakland, California, with offices in Geneva and Brussels. Wackernagel received an honorary doctorate in December 2007 from the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

Leadership

* Co-founder & President: Dr. Mathis Wackernagel * Co-founder: Susan Burns * Chief Executive Officer: Laurel Hanscom * Chief Science Officer: Dr. David Lin * Director, Marketing & Communications: Amanda Diep * Director, Mediterranean and MENA Regions: Dr. Alessandro Galli * Board Chair: Keith Tuffley * Honorary Chair: Swiss entrepreneur and investor André Hoffmann

Awards and honours

* Nobel Sustainability Trust Leadership and Implementation Award 2024 to Mathis Wackernagel * World Sustainability Award 2018 * International Association for Impact Assessment's Global Environment Award 2015 * RECYCLAPOLIS National Sustainability Award 2015 * ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame Inductees Susan Burns and Mathis Wackernagel 2014 * Prix Nature Swisscanto 2013 * Global Footprint Network was recognized as one of the top 100 NGOs worldwide by the Global Journal in 2012 and 2013. * Blue Planet Prize 2012 * Boulding Award 2012 * Binding Prize 2012

References and further reading

External links

* * * {{authority control International research institutes Sustainability organizations International sustainability organizations Organizations established in 2003 Organizations promoting population moderation Environmental organizations based in the United States