June 22 marks Germany’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 2.1 Germanys to support German residents’ Ecological Footprint.
When a nation like Germany 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 Germany has and how much its residents use in the figure below:
Germany appears to be closing its ecological deficit, primarily by reducing its per capita carbon Footprint and increasing crop biocapacity at the same time.