Going into ecological debt

A study from the New Economics Foundation (Nef) think tank reveals that Britain is living beyond its environmental means and is increasingly dependent on the rest of the world for its natural resources. Although the recession may have slowed consumption, we still make extensive use of the natural resources of other countries.

The research also shows that by Easter Sunday this year Britain had used the levels of resources it should consume in an entire year if it were to be ecologically self-sufficient. As our ecosystems become more stressed the day in the year on which we effectively go beyond our environmental means, and move into ecological debt, is moving ever earlier in the year. In 1961 the date was 9 July, but in 2009 it fell on 12 April (Easter Sunday).