Ecological footprint is a measure of how much
biologically productive land and water an individual, population or activity
requires to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste it
generates using prevailing technology and resource management practices. The
ecological footprint is usually measured in global hectares (a common unit that
encompasses the average productivity of all the biologically productive land
and sea area in the world in a given year). Because trade is global, an
individual or country’s footprint includes land or sea from all over the world.
The Ecological Footprint measures the amount of biologically productive land
and water area (bio capacity) required to produce the resources an individual,
population or activity consumes, and to absorb carbon dioxide emissions they
generate, given prevailing technology and resource management. This area is
expressed in global hectares (hectares with world average biological
productivity).
UNEP / UN HABITAT / FIDIC / GI-REC
