Switzerland's Ecological Footprint
Dec. 13, 2006
Switzerland's ecological footprint currently measures 4.7 global hectares (gha) per capita. Global biocapacity, however, is a mere 1.8 gha per capita. Thus Switzerland's footprint is nearly three times larger than the ecologically sustainable target. The main cause of this large footprint is our energy consumption, accounting for two-thirds of the ecological footprint. Switzerland's per-capita footprint is almost exactly equal to the average for all EU countries. Worldwide, demands on natural capital are distributed very unevenly across regions. North America and Western Europe consume more than five times more than the world's available biocapacity of 1,8 global hectares. On behalf of the Federal Offices for Spatial Development and for the Environment, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Swiss Federal Statistical office INFRAS compared the international database with Swiss data and analyzed the Swiss results in an international context.
Duration
2005
- 2007
Topics
Who we work for
Amt für Raumentwicklung
Abteilung Raumplanung
Stabsstelle Raumökonomie
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