It’s only May 1, but Germany already has its Overshoot Day. In other words, per person, the country has used as much from nature in just over four months as the planet can renew in the space of a year.
If all people lived like the Germans, there would be three planets that could cater to them. Clearly, however, we only have one.
Lara Louisa Siever is senior policy advisor for resource justicia at INKOTA. She said, “That should be an alert signal to reminds us of the gravity and the situation.” “It’s a wakeup for all of us citizens, politicians, and the industry. We cannot continue this way.”
Calculated by an international research group Global Footprint NetworkOvershoot Days are a factor in how much we eat, how efficiently products can be made, population size, and how much nature can reproduce.
Germany’s early Overshoot Day, is down to its intensive use of resources in areas such as agriculture and energy inefficiency in buildings, says Stefan Kper, press spokesperson for the environmental and sustainable development NGO Germanwatch.
He said, “And this leads Germany to live on credit and take a lot more planet resources than we are supposed to.”
Too slow progress
This is not the first time Germany has exhausted its resources so quickly. In fact, the official Overshoot Day in Germany has been around the same date for years.
“And that’s also the saddest. We don’t see enough progress in Germany. We are not clearly making any real, tangible progress towards using fewer resources or emitting less greenhouse gasesses,” Kper stated. He also said that it sends the wrong message to other countries that might be considering Germany for help in addressing the problem of global warming.
“What they see is that Germany hasn’t made any progress towards its climate goals. They’ll also think it’s not a priority.
In this context, he said that Germany needs to “take huge, measurable measures to show that it has not just set goals but is actually doing something to achieve them.”
Even though they emit less than countries like Germany and the United States, countries like Indonesia feel the most severe effects of the climate crisis.
Living in high-income countries comes at the expense of low-income countries
Germany is not the first country to cross the dubious finish line, despite reaching its Overshoot Day so early this year. Other high-income states like Qatar, Canada Luxembourg, Canada, United Arab Emirates, and the United States made it there earlier.
Siever points out that industrialized countries live off the backs low-income nations like Cuba, Ecuador and Indonesia. These countries use less resources and will not reach their Overshoot Days until the year’s end.
“Germany, is the fifth biggest consumer of raw materials in the world and is importing minerals and metals to 99% from countries in the Global South, Siever said. “These countries don’t consume the same amount as others, but they bear the costs: the human rights destruction and the environmental damages.
Earth Overshoot Day is celebrated across all decades
Half a century ago the Earth’s annual human demand for resources was met by its biocapacity. Since long, however, ‘Earth Overshoot Day,’ the date when all of humanity has exhausted the resources required to sustainably live for one year, has been creeping up on the calendar.
The date for 2020 has not been announced, but it fell on August 22, 2020. It fell on October 10th and December 30th, 1970, and 1990, respectively. It had advanced to August 6 by 2010.
Kper stated, “That’s the thing that worries me so much. That we have been overusing resources for decades and that globally speaking, we are witnessing an increasing level of abuse. It’s an alarming trend that must be stopped immediately.
What must change?
Carbon emissions are one of the main causes of overshooting the planet’s natural budget. They currently account for 60% of humanity’s ecological footprint. If we emitted only half of that, Earth Overshoot Day would be three months later.
Although transitioning to renewable energies is one of most effective ways to reduce emissions, Siever warns that we must also be aware and conscious of the raw material value chain.
“Everybody wants a transition to renewable energy. We need metals and minerals to do this, like cobalt, nickel, and lithium. What we often forget is that the processing of these minerals and metals contribut 11% to global CO2 emissions, she said.
She is working with civil society in pushing for a raw material transition that would see a drastic reduction in our consumption. This is encouraged by the fact the German government included a plan that would reduce its use of raw material in its coalition treaty.
A sustainable future: Shaping the future
Many citizen initiatives, policies of municipalities and business strategies have already influenced change that could eventually impact Germany’s Overshoot Day.
Wuppertal in western Germany was the birthplace of a project to convert an old railroad into a bikeway network. It is expected that 90 million cyclists will use it over the next 30 year.
Wuppertal in western Germany was the home of a citizen group that started a project to convert an old railroad into a bikeway network.
Policy makers in Aachen, not far from the city, laid the foundation for a climate neutral city by 2030. The area of Achen’s rooftops that can support photovoltaic system is large enough for all residents. 150 rooftop solar installations have been funded, and another 1000 are planned for this year.
Kper believes that such shifts can be attributed to citizen initiatives like Fridays For Future, which put pressure on politicians and demands change. He also said that Earth Overshoot Day and other dates play an important part in raising the alarm around the world.
“When we started to raise awareness about this day with other organizations almost no one knew about it. I can see a tremendous increase in public awareness of the day, and the problems it presents. We need it. Without public pressure, nothing is going to change as fast as we need it to,” Kper said.
Edited by Tamsin Walker
