GLOBAL FOOTPRINT, LOCAL ACTION
The Ecological Footprint is being used by local governments and businesses around the world to inform sustainability policy and measure Footprint reductions. Here we look at this year’s innovative uses of the Footprint for local policy action.
FACT 6
Canada
The United States
Three new, active Global Footprint Network governmental partners — the City of Calgary, the Auditor General’s Office of Quebec, and the City of Vancouver — are measuring the Ecological Footprint for their regions and using it to inform their citizens, to review their sustainability policies, and to set sustainability targets. Calgary’s report for their planning and budgeting process stirred up much discussion about how decisions today will determine citizen behavior for much of the rest of the century. Bioregional North America, based in Canada, has also become a Global Footprint Network partner and has begun establishing a “One Planet Living” Community in Montreal.
The Utah Population and Environment Coalition, a Global Footprint Network partner, successfully completed the first major calculation of the Ecological Footprint of a US state. The group released a report, Utah Vital Signs 2007: the Ecological Footprint of Utah, that is based on a nine-month study using National Footprint Accounts data and state statistics. The group has used the study as a platform to engage with citizens and government officials about considering ecological limits in the state’s decisionmaking. The report has sparked interest in more state and city level Footprint analyses in the US, including potential projects in California, North Carolina and New York.
Humans have been exceeding the earth’s ability to support our lifestyles for over 20 years