Earth Overshoot Day is defined as the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year, according to Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability organisation. Its date has moved up two months over the past 20 years earlier and earlier and in 2019 it was on the 29th of July.
This year, as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, there has been a significant drop in carbon emissions by 14.5%. This data is from the International Energy Agency and forms the basis of the ‘COVID-19 carbon-adjustment’ to Earth Overshoot Day.
So the first time ever, the Earth Overshoot Day moved in the opposite direction, getting later and will happen on August 22. We hope this is a trend that will continue and we urge our followers to join the Global Footprint Network in their call #MoveTheDate