Wednesday, August 22nd was "Earth Overshoot Day", the date on which humanity exceeded the bio-capacity of our planet for the entire year of 2012. In essence, we have now utilized all of the resources that our planet can provide in a calendar year in a sustainable scenario, and for the remainder of 2012, we will continue to deplete the planet's ability to provide the resources we require to sustain our society in the future.

The concept of Earth Overshoot Day was developed by Global Footprint Network and the new economics foundation as a way to express the increasing stress placed on the natural environment by human activity. In the 1970s, humanity's consumption of natural resources began to overstep what the planet could replenish. In 1992, Earth Overshoot Day fell on October 21. In 2002, it was October 3. Not only is the trend moving in the wrong direction, but it is accelerating. 

In financial terms, excessive debt greatly increases risk, reduces resilience to change and crisis, and can ultimately cripple individuals, organizations, industries, and the global economy. It is unsustainable in the long term. We saw the consequences of massive debt loads manifest throughout the global economy in late 2008, and the shockwaves are still being felt across Europe and around the world. 

Debt cannot be cured with more debt, and our ecological challenges will demand a reduction in the resource intensity of our lifestyles – no easy task given the complexity of our social and economic structures. Earth Overshoot Day is an abrupt, annual reminder that our work as sustainability practitioners, systems re-designers, and leaders is more important than ever.

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