June 14 marks Portugal’s Ecological Deficit Day. The nation’s demand for food, timber and carbon dioxide absorption now exceeds what the nation’s ecosystems can renew over the full year, according to Global Footprint Network’s 2015 National Footprint Accounts. It would take 2.2 Portugals to support Portuguese residents’ Ecological Footprint.
When a nation like Portugal is in ecological deficit it meets demand by importing, liquidating its own ecological assets and/or using the global commons by emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. See how much nature Portugal has and how much its residents use in the figure below:
