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3.5<br />
Environment dimension of well-being<br />
Mari Jüssi<br />
This sub-chapter analyses the developments in Estonia<br />
during the last 10 to 15 years, using the indices<br />
and indicators related to the ecological sustainability<br />
and resource consumption of society. The Ecological<br />
Footprint, Carbon Footprint, energy intensity of the<br />
economy, and resource productivity are all examined.<br />
Estonia is part of the globalising world, where products,<br />
as well as the environmental impact of human activity,<br />
move across national borders, and therefore, the statistics<br />
that are usually related to the environmental impact<br />
of production do not reflect the environmental impact of<br />
imported products and services caused in foreign countries.<br />
In other words – the global ecological impact that<br />
is caused by the production and consumption in Estonia<br />
has not been considered to date.<br />
3.5.1<br />
The Ecological Footprint –<br />
definition and measures<br />
The Ecological Footprint is a composite indicator,<br />
which associates the ecological impact of human activities<br />
with the existing ecological reserves. In other<br />
words, the Ecological Footprint shows how many<br />
services of the Earth’s ecosystem are consumed by<br />
humanity, its countries and cities, and whether this<br />
consumption is within the limits of nature’s regeneration<br />
capability. The size of the equivalent biologically<br />
productive area (in global hectares), which would be<br />
able to regenerate these natural resources and neutralise<br />
the waste, is calculated for the country’s (or<br />
some other unit’s) material and energy flows. According<br />
to the latest Global Ecological Footprint report,<br />
compiled in 2011, the area per capita in the world<br />
necessary for this regeneration is 1.8 global hectares,<br />
i.e., this is the sustainable level of Ecological Footprint<br />
per capita, which would allow planet Earth to tolerate<br />
the resource consumption of the entire population.<br />
This can fluctuate somewhat by year, depending on<br />
the level of productivity of the Earth and the size of<br />
population. Currently, the consumption per capita is<br />
about 2.7 global hectares, or figuratively, 1.5 planets<br />
annually. This means that it takes Earth 18 months<br />
to regenerate the resources that humanity consumes,<br />
and to decompose the waste it creates, in a year. This<br />
is called ecological overshoot. This is a situation in<br />
which the consumption of resources is greater than<br />
their actual reserves, resulting in the depletion of ecological<br />
resources and the accumulation of waste. The<br />
resources consumed by humanity have exceeded the<br />
regeneration capability of Earth since the early 1980s;<br />
but as recently as the mid-1960s, humanity consumed<br />
half as much. (WWF et al., 2012)<br />
Figure 3.5.1.a<br />
The Ecological Footprint and GDP (based on PPP), per<br />
capita of the European Union Member Countries, 2008.<br />
Built-up area Carbon Fishing ground Forest<br />
Grazing land Cropland GDP (PPP)<br />
Hectare per capita<br />
Denmark<br />
Belgium<br />
Netherlands<br />
Ireland<br />
Finland<br />
Sweden<br />
Austria<br />
Czech Republic<br />
Slovenia<br />
Greece<br />
France<br />
Spain<br />
Estonia<br />
Great Britain<br />
EU 27<br />
Slovakia<br />
Germany<br />
Italy<br />
Lithuania<br />
Portugal<br />
Latvia<br />
Poland<br />
Hungary<br />
Bulgaria<br />
Romania<br />
€ per capita<br />
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8<br />
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40<br />
Source: Global Footprint Network 2012<br />
Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013<br />
139