OVETSHOOT DAY 2021

The Earth’s reproach: continue to consume and pollute as much as you can!

We learned nothing from the Virus: in 2020, Earth Overshoot Day fell on 22 August, partly induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the “restart” has mainly restarted consumption. Humanity has already exhausted nature’s budget on 29 July. For the rest of the year, we maintain our ecological deficit by drawing on local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The main causes were:

• Carbon footprint: an increase of 6.6% from 2020
• Global forest biocapacity: a reduction of 0.5% from 2020 due largely to the surge in deforestation in the Amazon. In Brazil alone, 1.1 million hectares were lost in 2020 and estimates for 2021 indicate up to a 43% increase in deforestation on an annual basis.

IN ITALY WE HAVE ALREADY EXHAUSTED OUR RESOURCES SINCE MAY 13!

Photo Avvenire

…. While the climate crisis is hitting with extreme events in several countries (floods, temperatures approaching 50 degrees Celsius and devastating fires from Germany to Canada, from China to India and Italy), the G20 is failing to agree on an essential element to combat the current crisis: decarbonisation.

Photo Sole 24ore

Although the document approved at the Environment G20 in Naples on 23 July 2021 formally reaffirms the commitments of the Paris Agreement, it does not contain two crucial points. The first is the goal of halving emissions by 2030 and the other, which is in fact linked to the first, is to move more quickly away from the use of coal.

Sculpture by Simon O’Rourke made from a weathered tree in the forests of Wales

The main opposition came from India, together with China, the country most hostile to the climate change targets advocated by the Italian Presidency. It was only in the end that Beijing relented and gave the go-ahead for the stumbling block in the negotiations, the inclusion of a reference to carbon neutrality.

Foto Investing.com