The Prince Edward Island Ecological Footprint Genuine Progress Index for Atlantic Canada Indice de p

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The Prince Edward Island Ecological Footprint
Genuine Progress Index for Atlantic
CanadaIndice de progrès véritable -
AtlantiqueCharlottetown, Prince Edward
IslandAugust 14, 2003
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Why a Genuine Progress Index

• Four hundred leading economists and thinkers,
  including Nobel Laureates, said
• Since the GDP measures only the quantity of
  market activity without accounting for the social
  and ecological costs involved, it is both
  inadequate and misleading as a measure of true
  prosperity....New indicators of progress are
  urgently needed to guide our society....The GPI
  is an important step in this direction.

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Economic growth statistics

• Count crime, war, sickness, pollution, disasters,
  addiction, stress as contributions to economic
  growth and prosperity.
• Count the depletion of our natural resources as
  gain. The more trees we cut down, the more fish
  we catch, the more fossil fuels we burn, the
  faster the economy will grow.

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Current Measures

• Ignore the value of voluntary work and unpaid
  household work
• Count longer work hours as contributions to
  economic growth and prosperity
• Ignore the value of free time
• Assign no value to health, security, educational
  attainment, environmental quality, resource
  conservation or strong communities

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Indicators are Powerful

• What we measure
• reflects what we value as a society
• determines what makes it onto the policy agenda
  (e.g. volunteer work)
• influences behaviour (e.g students)

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In the Genuine Progress Index

• Natural, human, and social capital valued
• Reductions in GHG emissions, pollution, crime,
  poverty, ecological footprint are signs of
  genuine progress that make index rise. Unlike
  GDP-based measures, "less" is sometimes "better"
  in the GPI
• Growing equity makes the GPI go up
• Economic valuations key. E.g. voluntary work
  worth 53.2 billion 8.7 loss costs Canadians
  4.7 billion

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GPI Atlantic founded 1997

• Independent non-profit research group
• Mandate Create more accurate, comprehensive
  measures of progress, sustainable development
• Nova Scotia pilot project for Canada, close
  consultation with Statistics Canada
• Can provide early warning signals for policy
  makers, demonstrate cost-effectiveness of
  prevention, spotlight soc-econ-envt linkages,
  stimulate debate, hold leaders accountable

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NS GPI has 22 Components

• Natural Resource Accounts - forests, fish, soils,
  water, energy (NRTEE assistance)
• Measures of Environmental Quality (air, GHG
  emissions, solid waste, ecological footprint,
  sustainable transportation)
• Time Use (paid unpaid work, free time)
• Social/Human Capital (health, education, income
  distribution, livelihood security, crime, debt)

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The ecological footprint of any population is

• the biologically productive area of land and
  water required to
• Produce the food, wood, energy and all the other
  resources that residents consume
• Provide room for buildings, roads, infrastructure
• Absorb the wastes, carbon dioxide and other
  pollutants that result from human activity
• (Rees and Wackernagel, UBC)

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Ecological Footprint and the Genuine Progress
Index

• Essential element of the NS GPI, because
• 1. Shifts onus for sustainability from solely
  producers (NR accounts) to consumers
• 2. Challenges economic growth paradigm
• 3. Identifies social/equity component of
  sustainability (Brundtland, Stats Canada)
• 4. Recognizes that local consumption has global
  consequences

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1. Onus for Sustainability

• Most measures of sustainable development
  implicitly place the onus for change on the
  producer to harvest more sustainably
• EF addresses the demand side of the
  sustainability equation and assesses the impacts
  of our consumption patterns on the environment.
  EF complements GPI natural resource accounts that
  focus on supply side.

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2. Challenges the Economic Growth Paradigm

• Ecological footprint analysis challenges the
  assumption that "more" is necessarily "better.
  Suzuki on growth vs balance
• The GPI contains several components in which
  "less" is frequently "better," and a more
  accurate signal of societal wellbeing
• In the GPI, a smaller footprint is a sign of
  genuine progress

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3. Equity is part of sustainability equation

• Ecological footprint links sustainability clearly
  and directly with equity and social justice
• It demonstrates relationship between income,
  consumption, and environmental impact. Higher
  income groups have larger footprint
• It cuts through illusions that we can improve the
  living standards of the poor without also
  examining the consumption patterns of the rich
  and that we can maintain current excess

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4. EF links local consumption patterns with
global consequences

• Local consumption practices may involve natural
  resource depletion far away
• We may indulge unsustainably high levels of
  consumption in North America, perhaps even
  without depleting local resources, but rather by
  "appropriating the carrying capacity" of other
  countries through trade

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Wealthy, industrialized nations have larger
footprints greater impact on environment

• 1999 Ecological footprints of
• Africa 1.36 ha per capita
• Asia/Pacific region 1.37 ha per capita
• Western Europe 4.97 ha per capita
• North America 9.61 ha per capita

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Disparity in Ecological Footprint Size by
Country, 1999
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Ecological Footprint By Region, 1999

• The size of each box is proportional to the
  aggregate footprint of each region
• The height of each box is proportional to the
  region's average footprint/capita
• The width of the box is proportional to the
  population of the region

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The Ecological Bottom Line

• Productive land and sea on Earth 11.4 billion
  ha
• Divided by global population of 6 billion
  people 1.9 ha of biologically productive
  land/sea per person
• However we share the planet with over 10 million
  other species so we cant use entire
  bio-productive ecological space solely for human
  consumption
• Brundtland Commission 12 of bio-productive
  space should be set aside for biodiversity
  protection. That leaves lt 1.7 ha of biologically
  productive land and sea per person on Earth

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The Ecological Bottom Line

• Sustainable living therefore requires that each
  global citizen fulfill all his/her physiological,
  social, and economic needs within an area of 1.7
  ha
• Current average global ecological footprint
  (1999) is 2.3 ha per person
• Therefore humanity already exceeds the
  sustainable carrying capacity of the Earth by 35
  
• I.e. Human demand exceeds nature's supply.
  Humanity consumes more than nature can regenerate

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We are not all equally responsible

• 4 billion people (70 world population) consume
  average of just 1.3 ha of bioproductive capacity
  pp
• Global environmental decline can therefore be
  attributed to 30 of world's population the 1.8
  billion people who consume average of 6.5 ha of
  productive space per person
• This 30 is responsible for 70 of global
  resource consumption and waste generation

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Global Distribution Above and Below Per Capita
Global Biocapacity
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The Current Human Footprint Exceeds the
Sustainable Capacities of the Earth

• If everyone in the world consumed at PEI/Canadian
  levels, wed need 4.7 planets Earth to provide
  the necessary resources waste assimilation
  capacity
• Raising global living standards to current levels
  in the wealthy countries would therefore put an
  intolerable strain on the Earth's resources.
• To maintain current consumption patterns in
  rich countries we need a billion people to live
  in absolute poverty without sufficient resources
  to sustain life and health

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Global Ecological Overshoot is temporarily
possible by

• depleting reserves of natural capital (e.g.,
  natural gas, old growth forests)
• over-harvesting renewable resources to the brink
  of collapse (e.g. fish stocks)
• causing irreversible ecological damage (e.g.,
  species extinction)
• overloading environment with waste products (air
  water pollution, GHGs - climate change, ozone
  depletion, etc.)

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Components of the Prince Edward Island Ecological
Footprint

• 1. Food Footprint calculated as arable cropland
  (used to grow crops for food, animal feed)
• Grazing land (animals for meat, hides, wool,
  milk)
• Fishing grounds (marine and freshwater fishing)
  
• 2. Other Crop Footprint Arable land required to
  grow non-food items, including fibre crops (e.g.,
  cotton), rubber, oil, tobacco, etc.
• Remember not PEI land, but for PEI consumers!!

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PEI Footprint includes

• 3. Forest Footprint timber for wood, fibre, and
  fuel, calculated as natural and plantation forest
  land
• 4. Built-Up Footprint Land used for housing,
  transportation, industrial production,
  hydro-electric power, and other infrastructure
• 5. Energy Footprint calculated as area needed to
  sequester enough CO2 emissions to avoid an
  increase in atmospheric CO2. The total energy
  footprint includes CO2 from fossil fuels, fuel
  wood, and nuclear and hydro energy

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How Big is the PEI Ecological Footprint?

• Area required to sustain current PEI resource use
  and waste production (total ecological footprint)
  8.98 hectares per person
• 11 football fields pp (Canadian, incl. end
  zones)
• 10 city blocks pp (_at_ 100,000 sq.
  ft./city block)
• 10.2 hectares per person if 12 set-aside
  of ecological space for biodiversity is included

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• With a land area of 568,439 hectares, population
  of 137,980, and a footprint of 8.98 ha/capita,
  Prince Edward Islanders require the productive
  output of a land area 2.2 times larger than the
  geographical area of the province to support
  their current consumption levels
• Prince Edward Islanders not only use the
  ecological capacity from within PEI but
  appropriate additional ecological capacity
  elsewhere on the planet through trade of goods
  and services that are derived from natural capital

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PEIs ecological footprint includes

• Food footprint 3.49 ha/capita
• Energy footprint 4.3 ha/capita.
• Food energy 87 of total footprint
• Energy footprint includes residential,
  commercial, industrial, transportation energy
  consumption
• Transportation is largest contributor (1/3) to
  energy footprint 1.44 ha/capita Residential
  energy consumption 0.73 ha/capita

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How Does PEI Compare to Canada?

• PEIs ecological footprint of 8.98 ha/capita is
  1.6 larger than Canadian footprint (8.84
  ha/cap.)
• Average rural PEI footprint larger than urban
• Charlottetown-Summerside footprint is 8.3
  ha/capita, so urban Islanders need the productive
  output of a land area 1.1 times larger than PEI,
  or 6.8 times larger than Charlottetown-Summerside

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Ecological Footprints of Prince Edward Island
Canada
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Rich Islanders have bigger footprints

• The typical Prince Edward Islander (median
  income) has a footprint of 8.5 ha/capita,
  compared to provincial average of 8.98 ha/capita
• Poorest 20 of Islanders have a footprint of 7.6
  ha/capita while wealthiest 20 of Islanders have
  a footprint of 11.4 ha/capita
• A wealthy Islander has over 1.5 times the impact
  on the environment of a low income Islander

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Ecological Footprint by Quintile
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Ecological Footprint is Growing

• PEIs ecological footprint grew between 1981 and
  2000 by 65, increasing from 5.79 ha/capita to
  9.53 ha/capita
• during the same period the Canadian footprint
  grew by 100 from 4.59 ha/capita to 9.18
  ha/capita
• PEIs footprint will continue to increase, by an
  additional 21 to 10.83 hectares per capita
  between 1999 and 2020
• by 2020 the Canadian footprint is expected to
  total 10.85 ha/capita, 0.2 higher than the
  projected PEI footprint

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Ecological Footprint Time Series, Prince Edward
Island, 1981-2000
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Ecological Footprint Time Series, Canada,
1981-2000
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Ecological Footprint Projections, Prince Edward
Island, 1995-2020
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Ecological Footprint Projections, Canada,
1995-2020
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Ecological Footprint GDP are related

• Canadian and PEI per capita GDP and footprint
  growth rates virtually parallel in last 20 years
• Conventionally, GDP growth is primary indicator
  of how "well off" we are as society. Higher per
  capita GDP -gt more consumption -gt greater
  wellbeing
• From GPI perspective, smaller ecological
  footprint denotes less impact on the environment,
  genuine progress, greater long-term wellbeing,
  sustainability.
• Since GDP and footprint are closely related, GPI
  questions limitless growth assumption

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Ecological Footprint GDP
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Reducing PEIs Ecological Footprint1)
Transportation

• Drive less, walk cycle more, use public
  transport, car-pool. Switch from 1/car -gt 4/car,
  3 days/week, reduces commuting footprint by 45
• Living near place of work reduces dependency upon
  cars (91.5 Islanders now drive to work)
• Therefore coordinated land use/transportation
  planning is essential to bring about any
  substantial shift in transportation patterns

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If we drive, we can still reduce our driving
footprint

• Change driving style (service vehicles regularly,
  avoid idling, accelerate and brake smoothly, use
  air conditioning less frequently, etc.)
• Drive fuel-efficient cars (also reduces fuel
  costs)
• One SUV has 3 times the impact on the environment
  of a small car
• SUVs projected to increase by 46 (1997-2020) in
  Canada

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Daily awareness is key to reducing residential
energy footprint saving

• switch to time based-programmable thermostat
• turn down the thermostat at night to 17 degrees
• switch to halogen or compact fluorescent bulbs
• install a low flow shower head
• switch to energy efficient appliances
• turn lights appliances off when not needed
• limit use of air conditioners
• have shorter showers

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Reducing PEIs Food Footprint

• Why is the PEI food footprint so large?
• Overeating - 3119 cals/pp optimal-2500 (m), 1,900
  (f) 38 of Islanders are overweight (Canada
  32)
• Canadian agriculture system is highly energy
  intensive
• Public policy that supports local agriculture,
  organic farming methods, best use of land, and
  good nutritional education, will produce greatest
  and most effective food footprint reductions

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Islanders can reduce food footprint

• Maintain healthy weight, reduce overeating, dont
  waste food. Eat the amount of daily calories
  appropriate for age and level of activity
• Eat locally produced foods support local
  farmers to help reduce high transportation inputs
  into food system
• Eat organically grown and sustainably farmed
  foods, to help reduce footprint-intensive energy
  and synthetic, petroleum-based inputs into
  agriculture (e.g. PEI Sustainable Resource
  Policy, FoodTrust)

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A Good News Story Prince Edward Island's Solid
Waste Footprint

• 1989-2002, PEI waste diversion rate increased
  from 22 to 50 (projected rise to 65 in 2003)
• PEI has already demonstrated ability to act
  quickly, decisively and effectively to reduce
  solid waste footprint.
• If we can act effectively in one key area to
  reduce our impact on the environment without
  compromising our quality of life, then we can do
  so in energy, transportation, food, and other
  areas

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Prince Edward IslandWaste Diversion, 1989-2003
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Treading Lightly We Can Reduce our Ecological
Footprint

• The ecological footprint is an effective
  educational tool to help PEI citizens,
  businesses, and govt. to understand and take
  responsibility for impact of consumption patterns
  and policy choices on envt.
• Current PEI ecological footprint of 8.98 ha/ per
  person is clearly not sustainable
• Footprint can motivate and measure success of
  actions taken to reduce impact on environment
  to move PEI toward a healthy, sustainable
  community

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Treading lightly An immediate footprint
reduction target

• If Islanders reduced their footprints from 8.98
  ha/capita to 7.0 ha/capita, which can easily be
  done without compromising quality of life, the
  total provincial PEI footprint would shrink by
  over one quarter of a million hectares. A 2005
  target date is realistic
• This would be a sign of genuine progress in the
  GPI. (Premiers conference a good model)

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Longer-term goals

• In the long term, our ecological footprint needs
  to be reduced far more dramatically
• As solid waste reduction accomplishment has
  shown, clear priorities, targets and decisive
  action can achieve substantial successes in a
  very short time period
• Ultimately, deep footprint reductions essential
  to curbing current overshoot and protecting our
  children's future, will require collective rather
  than individual action alone

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• In a world of limited resources and limited
  waste assimilation capacity, excess consumption
  by the rich literally requires that others live
  in poverty if we are not to exceed the Earths
  physical carrying capacity.
• Ecological footprint analysis cuts through
  the illusion that we can improve the living
  standards of the poor without curbing the excess
  consumption of the rich.