If everyone in the world followed the consumption patterns of the European Union (EU), humanity would exhaust this Friday, May 3rd, the planet’s natural resources available for the year.
The EU thus arrives at the so-called “Planet Overload Day”, in which several environmental organizations draw attention to an “unsustainable and irresponsible” consumption pattern and propose a set of measures to “unlock the social and industrial benefits of an ecological transition fair well executed.”
In an open letter signed by 317 civil society organizations — including the Portuguese League for the Protection of Nature (LPN), Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA), Associação Natureza Portugal/Worldwide Fund for Nature (ANP/WWF) and Zero —, European leaders are advised to “confront crises of nature, of climate and pollution after the next European elections”, assuming the “political commitment to work towards an economy with a neutral impact on the climate, with zero pollution and positive for nature”.
The “Planet Overload Day” calculations (Earth Overshoot Day) are made by think tank Global Footprint Network, in partnership with the University of York, in the United Kingdom, which also evaluates data on the planet’s “biocapacity”, that is, the ability of ecosystems to regenerate and absorb waste produced by humans.
According to the same source, Portugal is one of the countries relatively well placed within the EU, exceeding its “planetary budget” of resources only on the 28th of May, alongside Malta and Croatia (at the same pace as Bulgaria, the planet is still would arrive on June 2nd).
“Unprecedented” setbacks
Regarding the European Union, this warning comes in the context of “an unprecedented and worrying retreat” in ecological policies, with their instrumentalization “for short-term electoral gains”. The European Union needs to address this “triple planetary crisis” — climate changelost of biodiversity and pollution — “a top political priority”, guaranteeing the survival of life on the planet.
Civil society organizations call for the European Green Deal to be not only deepened but also accelerated, putting into practice the objectives already agreed and “closing the ambition gaps in matters of nature, climate and pollution”.
The letter also calls for a “radical increase” in public investments in climate, environment and social justice, accompanied by a strengthening of democracy and the effective participation of civil society in the processes that concern them.
Impact already visible
“The European Union has less than 6% of the world’s population, but uses between 70% and 97% of the entire world’s ‘safe operating space’”, the letter reads. “We would need three planets to satisfy our demand if everyone on Earth lived like Europeans. This is not only unsustainable, it is irresponsible.”
This overload, warn the associations, is already seen in the levels of “deforestation, the loss of biodiversity, the collapse of stocks of fish, water scarcity and pollution, erosion soil, air pollution and climate change”. The consequences of these imbalances are also increasingly clear, with more frequent extreme meteorological phenomena, such as droughts, floods and forest fires, and a Europe heading towards “temperature increases twice those of other continents”.
“This concerns us all”, the letter reads, as there are also political and social impacts: “The risks linked to the exploitation of resources, such as violence, poverty and bad governance, put peace and world security.”
