ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
Map 6: ECOLOGICAL DEBTOR AND CREDITOR COUNTRIES, 2003 National Ecological Footprint relative to nationally available biocapacity. Ecodebt Footprint more than 50% larger than biocapacity Footprint 0–50% larger than biocapacity Ecocredit Biocapacity 0–50% larger than footprint Biocapacity more than 50% larger than footprint Insufficient data
countries have footprints smaller than their own biocapacity. Map 6 shows which countries are ecological debtors and which are ecological creditors, with the colour indicating footprint relative to biocapacity. Countries running ecological deficits can maintain their resource consumption in several ways. They can use their own
ecological assets faster than they regenerate each year – for example, depleting existing forest stocks rather than just harvesting the amount grown each year; they can import resources from other countries; or they can generate more wastes, such as CO2, than can be absorbed by the ecosystems within their own borders.
Ecological creditors are endowed with ecological reserves, but this does not necessarily mean that all their assets are well managed and not subject to overharvesting or degradation. With continuing global overshoot, debtor and creditor countries alike will realize the significance of ecological assets for both economic competitiveness
and national security, and the value of curbing their footprints and maintaining their biocapacity. As national ecological deficits continue to increase, the predominant geopolitical line may shift from the current economic division between developed and developing countries, to fall between ecological debtors and ecological creditors. LIVING PLANET REPORT 2006 17