Big foot

By The Economist online

The ecological footprint of nations

THE ecological footprint is a measurement of the consumption and carbon-dioxide emissions of both individuals and countries. It is expressed by Global Footprint Network (GFN), an NGO, in terms of “global hectares”—the number of hectares of land and sea required to produce the quantities consumed and emitted. This is calculated from the average productivity of six overlapping sorts of area use: arable, forests, grazing land, built-up areas, carbon sequestration and fisheries. The GFN reckons the world had enough productive land and sea to apportion 1.8 global hectares per person in 2008, the latest year for which data are available. If that is right, humans are horribly depleting the planet. The world's biggest guzzlers are Qataris, who account for the equivalent of 11.7 global hectares per person. Americans account for 7.2 global hectares and western Europeans weigh in at between 8.3 (Denmark) and 4.1 (Portugal). The title of the world's most modest consumers is shared between Afghans, Timorese and Palestinians, who each consume or emit just 0.5 global hectares.