You may have missed it, but Earth Overshoot Day came early this year, on July 24th 2025 to be precise, the earliest it has been since the measurement started.
Surely this has to be one of the most significant dates in the calendar of human survival on Earth?
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.
This is a superb indicator as to the negative effects we are having on the planet and a demonstrable cause of the climate and ecological emergencies we are facing.
In some ways this date may be more significant than the Paris Agreement’s quest to restrict the global average temperature increase to a maximum of 1.5% above pre-industrial levels.
We care deeply about this metric as it impacts Ateliers Verts in our quest for our customers to buy well and consume less. In fact it should act as a catalyst for change in all businesses around the world.
Here is a simplistic explanation of how Earth Overshoot occurs.
“Humans need food, shelter, and heating (in some locations) to survive. Our planet’s ecological resources allow us to fulfil these basic needs. In our modern society, we also need land to accommodate our built infrastructure and forested areas to absorb the carbon dioxide we emit by burning fossil fuels to power our energy- and transport-intensive economies.
So how many resources do we consume? And is our consumption sustainable? This question can be answered using the Ecological Footprint methodology. Just as a bank statement tracks income against expenditures, Ecological Footprint Accounting measures a population’s demand for ecological resources and services on the one hand, and how many resources are supplied by existing natural ecosystems on the other hand.
On the demand side, the Ecological Footprint measures a population’s demand for plant-based food and fibre products, livestock and fish products, timber and other forest products. It also accounts for space occupied by urban infrastructure, as well as the surface of forested land needed to absorb all the carbon dioxide emissions generated by that population through burning fossil fuels. The Ecological Footprint can be calculated for a single individual, city, region, country, or the entire planet.
On the supply side, the bio-capacity of a given geographical entity (country, province, city) represents the capacity of its biologically productive land and sea area to provide ecological resources and services, given current technology and management practices. Bio-capacity include forest lands, grazing lands, cropland, fishing grounds, and built-up land.
The gap between Ecological Footprint and bio-capacity is determined by several factors. Our personal Footprint is the product of how many resources one uses and how efficiently these resources are being produced. The bio-capacity per person is determined by how many hectares of productive area are available, how productive each hectare is, and how many people (in a city, country, or the world) share this bio-capacity.
When a country’s bio-capacity is greater than its population’s Ecological Footprint, the country has an “ecological reserve.” Many countries are “in the red,” however, meaning that they use more natural resources (Ecological Footprint) than their ecosystems can regenerate (bio-capacity). They are running an “ecological deficit.”
Countries can run ecological deficits by liquidating their own resources (e.g. overfishing); importing resources from other areas; and/or emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than their own ecosystems can absorb.
When the entire planet is running an ecological deficit, as it has been since the early 1970s according to Global Footprint Network data, it is called “overshoot” since there can be no net import of resources to the planet.
Overshoot occurs when humanity’s Ecological Footprint is larger than Earth’s bio-capacity. “
So how do individual countries rank? The chart below is self explanatory - The UK's overshoot day was May 20th 2025 - We can do better!
Here is a visual representation of those countries (for more detail see: https://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/):
Bio-capacity Creditors VS Bio-capacity Debtors
We are entering a ‘storm’ of climate change and biological resource constraints. The earlier companies, cities, and countries plan ahead and prepare themselves for the predictable future, the better their chance of thriving.
There is hope:
There is immense power of possibility in the many existing solutions that are ready to be deployed at scale to reduce the Earth overshoot days. With them, we can make ourselves more resilient and #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day.
Check out https://www.overshootday.org/power-of-possibility/ where there are projects that can improve our resource security in five key areas. Healthy planet, cities, energy, food and population.
But we must act now:
Acting now puts us at a strategic advantage in a world increasingly defined by ecological overshoot. Countless solutions exist that #MoveTheDate. They’re creative, economically viable, and ready to deploy at scale. With them, we can make ourselves more resilient and #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day.
If we move the date 6 days each year, humanity can be out of overshoot before 2050.
At Ateliers Verts for example we are promoting more products in brand portfolios which focus on circular strategies, especially in material sourcing in order to reduce the use of virgin materials.
With thanks to:
Global Footprint Network ( https://www.footprintnetwork.org/ )
Earth Overshoot Day ( https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/ )
EUSTEPS ( https://www.eusteps.eu/ )
(Header Image: ©Diehl Metering)
#MinimiseOurHumanFootprint
©Ateliers Verts Ltd. 2025
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