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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

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