What is the most wanted job in the future?

Checking statistics in selecting education tracks, it seems like accounting is an ever solid choice for the future. The pattern has its reason; a monetary world needs experts in monetary logistics at all levels. I’d like to ask for a minute of thought. What if a nation state, company or family would one day count their assets in ecological wealth? To clarify, this would mean counting debit and credit according to ecological footprint within the limits of biocapacity of the specific entity. In the visualization below you can familiarise with the thought, where the traditional parts are reversed for many countries.

Biocapacity Debtors (red)
Footprint greater than biocapacity
150%
100 –150%
50 –100%
0 – 50%
Biocapacity Creditors (green)
Biocapacity greater than Footprint
0 – 50%
50 –100%
100 –150%
150%

To quote the Annual Report 2010 of the Global Footprint Network, I’d like to agree that ”deforestation, reduced cropland productivity and the collapse of fisheries are not the problem”. The years-long discussion on climate change, finger-pointing at single fields of production; who’s fault is this, who amplifies climate change most, and what not, should be halted for a while and pulled back to the core. The Global Footprint Network continues, “each of these crises, though alarming, is a symptom of a single, over-riding issue”.

Lately we have seen a fairly positive trend rising, at least in the Nordic countries that endeavour to downsize the needs, desires and demands of everyday life. We have seen small local grocery shops popping up in urban neighbourhoods, and areas for cultivation near cities where urban citizens can grow their own vegetables. The vibrant weekend flea markets are providing both a lingering experience and good bargains. When humanity is demanding more than the earth can provide, we should be focusing on the core dilemma and encouraging world citizens to reshape their demands. As similar behavioural changes do not happen over night, it is convenient to start from redesigning matters into new forms, suitable in a more ecologically aware world.

The Global Footprint Network claims that decision-makers are employing Ecological Footprint accounting to manage their ecological capital more than ever, now and for the long-term. If I manage to connect matters right, I’d want to mention the lately pulsating market on emissions trading. For what I have understood the world is fairly united in its opinions about the trading. Is this real, a preliminary solution for an enhanced value of monetary nature of the climate? In a way I’m shocked over the facileness of changing the conception of wealth. When money talks - when the air we breathe starts to cost the conception changes. Facile! We are there.

The conception of the secure solid future job has been adapted to the new form as well. So, it is allowed to keep on dreaming about the secure job as accountant at company X (supposing that a big part of students at the schools of economics do). This time the regular accountant just has double the responsibility, a world economical and world ecological one. Are you ready for the challenge?

Source and inspiration: Global Footprint Network - 2010 Annual Report

Mapping global ecological footprint

A recently published Living Planet 2010 report by WWF shows that the Earth's population is using the equivalent of 1.5 planets' worth of natural resources and that biodiversity has fallen nearly 60% in low-income countries in less than 40 years. The report also states that carbon now accounts for over half the global ecological footprint. This somewhat depressing information should encourage us to find solutions and tools to halt the biodiversity loss and diminish our carbon footprint.

Luckily there are some good news, too. In non-tropical parts of the world, there’s actually been an increase in species numbers, by around 30% on average. This is due to greater conservation efforts and pollution control.

In this Ecological Footprint Index below you are able to search footprints by country.


The global average of the ecological footprint is three hectares, meaning the area required to provide the resources consumed by the population or average person in a year. The consumption of natural resources in the rich countries is on average five times higher than in the poorest countries.

More information: WWF Living Planet Report 2010

On Saturday, we exceeded nature's budget

On August 21, it is Earth Overshoot Day: the day of the year in which human demand on the biosphere exceeds what it can regenerate. By last Saturday, humanity has demanded all the ecological services that nature can regenerate this year. For the rest of the year, we will be financing our consumption on credit.

"We know we are far from living within the means of one planet. The good news is, much of the technology we have to begin to address this problem is available and it is open source: things like compact urban design, energy-efficient housing, ecological tax reform, removal of resource subsidies, safe and affordable family planning, bicycles, low-meat diets, and life-cycle costing", said Global Footprint Network President Mathis Wackernagel.

Last year, the Overshoot Day occurred almost a month later on September 25th, and we also wrote about it here in this blog. See the entry here. At the time, we promised more information on how we plan to minimize the ecological footprint of the CHAMP project. Since, we have drafted guidelines on Low-carbon project management to our project stakeholders.