April 5 marks the ecological deficit day of Italy. 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 3.8 Italys to support Italian residents’ Ecological Footprint.
When a nation like Italy 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 Italy has and how much its residents use in the figure below:
Italy has the third-highest Ecological Footprint per capita of Mediterranean countries, trailing France and Slovenia, and fourth-highest ecological deficit per capita of the EU 27 countries (trailing Belgium, Netherlands, and Cyprus). Italy also ranks third worldwide among countries that net import the most total biocapacity, trailing only Japan and Mexico.
Photo courtesy of Catherine Cunningham/Nature’s Reflection Photography. 20% of net sales from print purchases will be donated to Global Footprint Network with coupon code GFN2015.