Global Footprint Network
Global Footprint Network, founded in 2003, is an independent think tank based in the United States, Belgium and Switzerland. It is established as a charitable not-for-profit organization in each of those three countries.
Global Footprint Network develops and promotes tools for advancing sustainability, including the ecological footprint and biocapacity, which measure the amount of resources we use and how much we have. These tools aim at bringing ecological limits to the center of decision-making.
Work
Global Footprint Network's goal is to create a future where all humans can live well, within the means of one planet Earth. The organization is headquartered in Oakland, California, but also has offices in Brussels and Geneva.[1] The Network brings together over 70 partner organizations,[2] including WWF International, Bank Sarasin, Pictet Group, the New Economics Foundation, the UK consultancy Best Foot Forward and the Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative.
Earth Overshoot Day
Also known as Ecological Debt Day, Earth Overshoot Day is the day when humanity has exhausted nature's budget for the year. For the rest of the year, society operates in ecological overshoot by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The first Earth Overshoot Day was December 19, 1987.[3] In 2014, Earth Overshoot Day was August 19.[4] The Earth Overshoot Day in 2015 was on August 13.[5]
Founding
In 2003, Mathis Wackernagel, PhD, and Susan Burns founded Global Footprint Network, an international think-tank headquartered in Oakland, California, with offices in Geneva and Brussels. Wackernagel received an honorary doctorate in December 2007 from the University of Bern in Switzerland.
Leadership
- President: Mathis Wackernagel
- Vice President: Susan Burns
- Vice President of Operations: Sandra Browne
- Vice President of External Affairs: Drew Lisac
- Vice President of Outreach and Programmes: Sebastian Winkler
- Director of Mediterranean and MENA Regions: Alessandro Galli
- Director of India: Pragyan Bharati
- Director of Communications: Ronna Kelly
- Board Chair: Terry Vogt
- Honorary Chair: Swiss entrepreneur and investor André Hoffmann
Awards/Honours
- Global Footprint Network was recognized as one of the top 100 NGOs worldwide by the Global Journal in 2012 and 2013.[6][7]
- Blue Planet Prize 2012 [8]
- Boulding Award 2012 [9]
- Binding Prize 2012 [10]
See also
- Carrying capacity
- Demography
- Ecological footprint
- New Economics Foundation
- Reproductive health
- Sustainable development
References and further reading
- ↑ At A Glance
- ↑ Partner Network
- ↑ "In the Eco-Red." New Scientist 192.2573 (Oct. 2006): 7. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 Oct. 2009.
- ↑ Earth's resources in "ecological deficit" for rest of 2014
- ↑ Today is Earth Overshoot Day and that’s worrying, The Hundu, dated August 13, 2015.
- ↑ #97 - Global Footprint Network
- ↑ Special Feature: The Top 100 NGOs 2013 Edition
- ↑ Blue Planet Prize: The Laureates
- ↑ ISEE 2012 in RIO
- ↑ Willkommen bei der Binding Stiftung ... (German)