Growth is a primary business objective drilled into every company that wants to compete in the market.
However, while economies, populations, and resource demands grow, Earth's size remains unchanged.
Since the 1970s, humanity has been using more renewable natural resources than our planet can regenerate, which was revealed and calculated ever since by Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability organisation that pioneered the Ecological Footprint.
Although we might be easily misled by the illusion of seeing fully stocked shelves in supermarkets and being constantly bombarded with offers to buy the next new thing, the reality is that natural resources are becoming scarce, putting pressure on not just nature but also business supply chains.
For instance, every function of modern phones, from touch screens to sending messages, taking pictures, or simply charging batteries, relies on using minerals and metals such as Cobalt, Lithium, Potassium, Silica and others.
More than 30 elements are needed to assemble a single smartphone, brought from a minimum of 8-10 countries worldwide, dominantly from developing nations with no proper regulations or law enforcement to ensure human rights and environmental standards.
Supporting the ambition of growing the green industry has resulted in a sharp increase in demand for these materials, even though we will run out of these natural resources in the foreseeable future.
For example, Cobalt is used in phone batteries and is also an essential material for the global green energy transition, including electric cars. However, the world has about 46 years of known reserves of this mineral if mining is to keep up with current demands.
In 2024, Earth Overshoot Day fell on 1st August, the date when humanity’s demand for nature’s resources surpasses Earth’s capacity to regenerate them for the given year.
This means that humanity is currently using nature 1.7 times faster than our planet’s ecosystems can regenerate globally.
This overshoot is possible because people can harvest more than is being renewed, thereby depleting natural capital.
The consequences of ecological overspending are evident in deforestation, soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which leads to more frequent extreme weather events and reduced food production.
Besides the global date, a country`s overshoot day can also be calculated. This day represents the date on which Earth Overshoot Day would fall if all of humanity consumed like the people in that country.
Ireland`s overshoot day was 2nd May 2024, significantly earlier than the global date, signifying the overwhelming use of natural resources.
After passing Earth Overshoot Day, humanity lives from overuse for the remainder of the year, further depleting the biosphere and draining natural resources.
According to the Global Footprint Network, there are opportunities to move the date by focusing on five key areas: Cities, Energy, Food, Population, and Planet.
Specific actions, such as population control, reducing food waste, reforestation, and cutting CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, can have significant impacts.
The smart move for companies to avoid fighting over ever-shrinking resources is to invest in sustainable innovation and develop closed-loop systems where precious materials are not wasted but reused, recycled or upcycled according to the circular economy principles.
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Written by Szilvia Szabo, climate journalist
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