Swiss Overshoot Day fell on May 13

If everybody lived like people in the Netherlands, we would need 3.6 Earths. It would take 7.3 Netherlands to regenerate everything the country’s residents demand from nature. Given the Netherlands’ vast resource insecurity, what are its options? How must economic policies shift to secure the country’s viability? What are the opportunities to seize? What does it need to do differently? 

To mark Dutch Overshoot Day 2022, Global Footprint Network hosted the webinar Facing the Dutch Overshoot Day unprepared: understanding resource security in the context of the Ukraine war”. We explored: to what extent is the Netherlands truly committed to its own success?; if so, what does it take?;  how will it get there, given its massive resource deficit and past blind spots?   

In advance of the webinar, we asked Dutch businesspeople, entrepreneurs, and activists to share their thoughts on resource insecurity, their favorite solutions to address overshoot, and their hopes for the future. Listen to their responses (at left).

Click the button below to watch the webinar recording.

DUTCH OVERSHOOT DAY WEBINAR

Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. In 2021, it fell on July 29.

We know it can be overwhelming to think about the various impacts of global ecological overshoot such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and extreme weather events (to name a few). However, thriving lives within the means of our planet are not out of reach.

For 100 Days of Possibility, we highlighted ways for each country, city, or business to ready themselves for a world increasingly defined by overshoot. These responses also #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day. Check out the latest solution (at right), or explore solutions from 100 Days of Possibility that have already been unveiled (button below).

100 DAYS OF POSSIBILITY

Explore Solutions to #MoveTheDate

Thriving lives within the means of our planet are not out of reach. Plenty of solutions exist in five major areas
for improving sustainability: planet, cities, energy, food, and population.

Planet

How we help nature thrive

Cities

How we design and manage cities

Energy

How we power ourselves

Food

How we produce, distribute, and consume food

Population

How many of us there are

Can we live in balance with the Earth?

The #MoveTheDate Solutions map is your go-to place to post and browse relevant information about active projects (“solutions”) that contribute to bringing human activity in balance with Earth’s ecological budget. This means moving the date of Earth Overshoot Day to December 31 or later.

Explore the map to find solutions that have been implemented in your country, or create an account and add a solution that you love.

Explore solutions map

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Earth Overshoot Day By the Numbers

3800
million years ago life first evident on Earth
121
increase in world population since 1970
-58
decline in average population size of vertebrate species since 1970
57
of humanity’s Ecological Footprint is carbon

Meet our partners

blue Global Footprint Network logo

Earth Overshoot Day is an initiative of Global Footprint Network, an international research organization that is changing the way the world measures and manages its natural resources. The date of Earth Overshoot Day is calculated with data from Global Footprint Network’s National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts, available for free at data.footprintnetwork.org.