What Is
Earth Overshoot Day?

By NJ Smith

"Earth Overshoot Day" is a joint initiative by the Global Footprint Network, York University, and Footprint Data Foundation. It addresses the question of "how do we model patterns of behavior, country by country, for renewable resources?" The key insight the research offers is the concept of "Overshoot Day," which is a calculation of the date in each calendar year in which the demand for renewable resources surpasses Earth's ability to renew those resources, within the year.

"Overshoot Day" is the date each year on which our consumption of resources surpasses Earth's generative budget for that year.

The data published through this research's open data platform yields several interesting metrics, both for planet Earth as well as individual countries. In the graphs that follow, we'll examine them.

For example, explore this map--it indicates, country by country, the amount of Earths it would take to meet the consumption demands on renewable resources, if everyone globally followed that country's consumption patterns.

Hover over the United States. If everyone on Earth consumed like Americans do, it would take 4.9 Earths to generate enough renewable resources to meet that rate of demand within a year.

A key term to introduce here is Ecological Footprint, which is a measure of "how much nature we have and how much nature we use."



Some countries have ecological deficits, while others have reserves.

If a country's ecological footprint exceeds its biocapacity, that region runs a biocapacity deficit.

Conversely, if the regional biocapacity exceeds the population's footprint, it has a biocapacity reserve.

This scatterplot also distributes countries along the months of the year to indicate each's Overshoot Day for 2024, and their ecological deficit or reserve is shown on the y-axis.

(Some countries' ecological demand did not surpass Earth's ability to generate resources, which means they had no Overshoot Day for 2024, thus they are not plotted here)

Notice the unit of measurement on the y-axis: "global hectares."

Earth is covered in different types of land and water, which Footprint Network measures in global hectares (gba).

One hectare is 10,000 square meters, or roughly 2.47 acres. Global hectares are defined as "biologically productive hectare[s] with world-average productivity."

Footprint Network divides this into 5 categories of productive renewable area: Grazing Land, Forest Products, Fishing Grounds, Cropland, and Built-Up Land, which together yield the Earth's total biocapacity.



In the area chart here, we see each of these area types gradually decreasing each year since Footprint Network began tracking the data, in 1961.

By using Global Hectares per Person as its metric, and by asking us to imagine everyone globally following different countries' consumption patterns to render these measurements, Earth Overshoot Day offers a lens which centers each of us in relationship with Earth's material budget.



While we're envisioning population-specific lifestyles being practiced across the globe, here is a map of what countries would look like if their areas were stretched or compressed to correspond to their respective consumption of resources.

Did you notice Luxembourg or Qatar on the scatterplot earlier? Two of the earliest overshoot days for 2024, because their demand for resources far exceeds their biocapacity. Now, notice how those small countries now become some of the largest on the map!

So, how much is humanity currently demanding of Earth?

Our global ecological footprint in 2024

Overshoot Day As Paradigm

By placing us in a measurable position on the calendar, and with insights country-by-country down to the individual level, it closes the gap between a subject and their surroundings. This point of view encourages us to think about resource consumption in terms of regenerative capacity, and highlights the urgent need for systemic changes in how we produce, consume, and manage resources globally, while placing each of us within the effort.

Some of The Footprint Network's proposed solutions range from personal changes such as reduced meat consumption, car travel, and energy use, to larger policy shifts like prioritizing renewable energy, land protections, and economic reform. Through any and all actions, the goal is to move the goalpost and push the Overshoot Date to earlier in the calendar year.

To explore and contribute more solutions, please visit overshootday.org.