Earth Overshoot Day

Do you know what Earth Overshoot Day is? It is the day when we have already used up all of the natural resources that the earth can restore in a year. This year, Earth Overshoot Day falls on July 29. Not even in 7 months have we caught more fish worldwide, cut down trees, harvested crops and used more water than the earth can reproduce in a year. AND produced more carbon than our forests and oceans can absorb. We live from the substance and at the expense of the future. What this early Earth Overshoot Day means in concrete terms: We consume 1.7 times of what the Earth can provide us with. So if we continue with our current consumption of natural resources as before, we would need 1.7 planets to live sustainably. But there is only one earth! And our task is to protect it and to manage the resources it gives us in a sustainable way.

How is Earth Overshoot Day determined?

To determine the date of Earth Overshoot Day, the Global Footprint Network calculates the number of days in a year when the Earth's biocapacity is sufficient to balance humanity's ecological footprint. On the one hand, there is the supply: the biocapacity of the earth - biologically productive land and water masses that are able to produce natural resources. This is countered by demand: our ecological footprint - everything we consume in terms of resources. Plant-based food, livestock and fish produce, wood and other raw materials, the land we use for cities and infrastructure and the forests that have to absorb our CO2 emissions. Demand far exceeds supply.

Good 2020, bad 2021

In 2020, global CO2 emissions had fallen by 5.8% compared to 2019. But not because we have been particularly sustainable, but solely because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated lockdowns and travel restrictions. In 2021, the global CO2 footprint rose again by 6.6%!

#MoveTheDate

In order to live in harmony with our Earth and to postpone Earth Overshoot Day, something has to be done in particular in the following 4 areas:

Environment

--> Nature protection and conservation, restoration, regenerative agriculture and forestry as well as sustainable fishing
By coincidence, one day before Earth Overshoot Day was World Nature Conservation Day. A day when we should remember how important a healthy environment is for our quality of life - even our survival. For example, if we were to reforest 350 million hectares of forest, we could postpone Overshoot Day by 8 days.

Food

--> Efficient food production, reduce food waste, reduce meat consumption
Half of the Earth's biocapacity is used to feed humanity. If we were to reduce meat consumption by 50% and replace it with a vegetarian diet, we would postpone Overshoot Day by 17 days.

Energy

--> Retrofitting of technologies and systems in industrial processes, building management and energy generation
This would postpone Overshoot Day by 21 days.

Cities

--> Good urban planning and development strategies, energy-efficient buildings, sustainable transport systems, expansion of public transport
The global climate struggle is decided primarily in cities. A decisive factor here are traffic routes and mobility. If we reduce the CO2 emissions generated by cars by 50% worldwide and travel a third of the distances by public transport, by bike or on foot, we would postpone Overshoot Day by 13 days.

Ultimately, CO2 emissions make up 57% of our ecological footprint. If CO2 emissions can be halved, Earth Overshoot Day will be postponed by more than 3 months!

This is what ShareYourSpace is committed to! ShareYourSpace is the digital marketplace for offering or booking temporarily free workspaces. "Airbnb for office", Office as a service, pay per use. For everyone with office, meeting space, conference room, whether owner, tenant, corporate, asset manager, administration, hotel industry or private person. For everyone who is looking for office space, workplace, meeting rooms, whether startup, company in transition, project team, self-employed. The office stock – in Germany over 500 million square meters, many more worldwide: offices, desks, meeting rooms are not occupied 24/7, but up to 70% of the time unused (e.g. because of vacancies, part-time work, out-of-office days, too much space). Ready for plug & work! This is the biggest lever for more sustainability in the construction and real estate world, which is responsible for 40% of the global CO2 footprint.

Sustainability in offices, workplaces and work-related mobility is significantly improved through sharing. Our mission: Boosting Flexibility + SUSTAINABILITY In The Office World! Making better use of existing space means less construction, less surface sealing, shorter commutes, less traffic. The protection of the environment is our social responsibility. To do this together with you and to make the earth a better place is a worthwhile effort for us.

ShareYourSpace contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, in particular numbers 3 (health and well-being), 8 (decent work and economic growth), 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and 13 (climate action).

Be smart. Be Sustainable. ShareYourSpace!