This 2024 it has been calculated that the day on which we will have exhausted the resources that the planet can offer us in a year on a global scale is August 1 . This variable date is known as Earth Overshooting Day and represents that we have already consumed the “ecological balance” available for the year and are entering the red. It is a matter of sustainability , which refers to meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It is clear that exhausting in a few months the natural resources that the planet can produce in a year is anything but sustainable. The date is calculated by averaging all countries in the world, but the rate of resource consumption varies according to each territory and the reality is that the difference is considerable. For example, while in Ecuador or Indonesia this red line is crossed at the end of November, in Qatar it was set on February 11. In other words, if the entire population of the Earth consumed resources at the same rate as the Middle Eastern country, we would exhaust the natural resources in just over forty days. In Spain, ecological debt was entered into on May 20.
In 1970, when the Earth’s capacity to generate resources was first discussed, the calculated date was December 29. Rubbing sustainability. This is the evolution of how this date has progressed to the present: for decades, we would need almost two Earth planets to continue producing and consuming at the rate we are doing .
Currently, one by one, the established planetary limits are being exceeded. Global warming, the loss of biodiversity and the acidification of the oceans are problems that are already having a significant impact on the environment and society. Air pollution, land degradation and the depletion of natural resources such as fresh water and minerals remain major concerns, requiring urgent and significant action to prevent them from worsening. To delay this countdown, the circular economy comes into play, a production and consumption model that seeks to extend the life of resources that have already been extracted. Through the prevention of waste (through eco-design, proximity, avoiding unnecessary packaging, responsible consumption); of reuse (donation, repair, finding new uses) and material recovery or recycling, we can reduce the environmental impact and waste of raw materials.
Resource management and drought
In this context of preventing the wastage of resources, we cannot forget water, a good that has often been taken for granted and is now in short supply. The excessive consumption of this resource and the lack of rain have put Catalonia on alert, but in other areas of the planet the emergency is almost beyond repair. At the citizen level, what belongs to us is to make responsible use of this and the rest of the natural resources.
