The planet’s available resources for this year would be exhausted today if everyone worldwide consumed at the rate of the Portuguese.
Last year, Portugal reached the so-called overshoot day on May 28, indicating a 23-day earlier shift in the calendar, accelerating resource consumption.
The environmental association Zero acknowledged in a communication that the improved results from the previous year were influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic period, which saw a slowdown in production and consumption.
The association emphasized that May 5 marks the worst outcome in recent years, warning that if each person globally lived like the average Portuguese citizen, humanity would need approximately 2.9 planets to sustain its resource needs.
“Portugal has long been deficient in its ability to provide the necessary natural resources for its activities (production and consumption),” the association stated, noting that the result brings Portugal closer to the European Union average, which recorded its overshoot day on April 29.
In their statement, the association highlighted that the production and consumption model supporting the Portuguese lifestyle is responsible for the imbalance. It explained that food consumption (30% of the country’s global footprint) and mobility (18%) are among the daily human activities that most significantly contribute to Portugal’s Ecological Footprint.
Zero suggested measures to reverse the trend of advancing the date when Portugal begins using its “environmental credit card,” such as investing in quality agriculture with increased vegetable protein production, preserving soils, and reducing pollution and water consumption.
Further suggestions included reducing travel through remote work and teleconferences, increasing the use of sustainable transportation modes like cycling, and regulating products to ensure they are sustainable (durable, repairable, reusable, and recyclable, for instance).
Each Portuguese individual, Zero added, can contribute by prioritizing public transport, engaging in circular consumption (avoiding single-use products), and reducing animal protein intake.
Data for Portugal indicate that each citizen consumes about three times the recommended animal protein according to the food wheel, half the vegetables, a quarter of the legumes, and two-thirds of the fruits.
The Netherlands similarly exhausts today the resources the Earth can renew in a year. Like the Portuguese, the Dutch consume as though nearly three planets exist and treat nature as an inexhaustible resource, according to the Global Footprint Network.
The organization reported that Qatar was the first country this year to deplete its resources on February 6, with Luxembourg following on February 17.
Among countries better at conserving resources, Uruguay stands out, using up its allocated resources by December 17, and Indonesia by November 18.
The Global Footprint Network is an international research organization providing tools to policymakers to help human economies operate within Earth’s ecological limits.
On June 5, World Environment Day, the organization announces Earth Overshoot Day, the moment when humanity’s demand for resources and environmental services exceeds the planet’s ability to regenerate those resources.
