Download Canada`s has world`s third-largest ecological footprint

Canada’s has world’s third-largest ecological footprint
Canada has the world’s third-largest “ecological footprint,” and if everyone in the world consumed
at the Canadian rate, it would take four more Earths to support them.
That’s one of the findings of “Ecological Footprints of Canadian Municipalities and Regions,” a
report prepared for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities by Anielski Management Inc. and
released today.
An ecological footprint measures the impact each person or group makes on the environment.
The footprint is the biologically productive area required to produce all the products a person or
group consumes and to absorb all their waste. A footprint that exceeds the Earth’s carrying
capacity indicates an unsustainable rate of consumption.
The report finds that it takes 7.25 hectares of land and sea throughout the world to support each
Canadian. However, the Earth has only 1.9 hectares of productive land and sea available to meet
the needs of each person. By this measure, Canadians consume almost four times the Earth’s
capacity. In comparison, the United States has the world’s second largest ecological footprint at
9.7 hectares per person. France, with a population twice the size of Canada’s, has the 14th
largest footprint at 5.26.
Ecological footprints vary according to average household income and the amount and kind of
energy consumed. In general, the greater the household income, the bigger the footprint. High
energy consumption and use of carbon-intensive fuels are also associated with larger footprints.
Energy demand accounts for 55 per cent of the Canadian footprint, with the largest portion
consumed by industry (38 per cent), followed by transportation (35 per cent), residential (15 per
cent) and commercial/business (12 per cent). Other components include the consumption of crop
land (19 per cent), forest land (16 per cent), built area (5 per cent), pasture land (3 per cent), and
sea space (2 per cent).
Among the 20 Canadian municipalities and urban regions studied, York Region, Calgary and
Edmonton have the largest municipal footprints, while Montreal, Quebec City and Greater
Sudbury have the smallest. The difference is due primarily to consumption expenditure levels and
the kind of energy consumed. In general, municipalities with higher household incomes have
larger footprints.
The report finds that household and municipal footprints can be reduced through lifestyle choices,
such as driving less and walking, cycling, carpooling or traveling by public transit; eating locally
grown food; retrofitting homes or businesses to conserve energy or adopting renewable-energy
alternatives; or driving a more fuel-efficient vehicle.
Municipal governments can use the environmental footprint analysis to shape their priorities,
planning and budgeting for transportation, housing, development, food, energy, infrastructure,
taxation, and environmental regulations. Benchmarking municipal, household and business
footprints will help to identify best practices or models of efficient energy use, transportation,
waste disposal, water and local food policies that yield smaller footprints.