Yesterday the Basque Government made public the Ecological Footprint of the Basque Country. Report that has had the technical assistance from NAIDER following the calculation standards international. From this report it can be concluded that, despite certain advances, the Basque Country continues to be a debtor territory. The consumption of the Basque population, as well as its economic and development system, are based on an unsustainable model. In Euskadi we exceed its biocapacity by 2.65, that is, we use almost three times more resources than those available in its territory. If we distribute the hectares of biologically productive surface to satisfy the consumption needs among the entire population of the planet, each person should enjoy 1.63 hectares. We Basques use 4.32 on average for each person.
Like many other countries we are borrowing the productive capacity of other territories and other times, borrowing from others peoples and future generations. That is why this report must be a first step to put on the table the urgent need to transition to another way of life that reduces the need to take over other territories to satisfy local and current needs.
The only way to turn this situation around is by reducing current energy and material consumption. Since it represents 50% of the footprint. For this, converting the energy system towards a more efficient one with a renewable source is essential. In the same way, the recirculation of the materials consumed together with a reduction in demand will allow us to move towards a circular economy model that will reduce our ecological footprint.
The improvement of the management of the food sector is also necessary, where the waste of products is reduced, as well as overproduction. This, together with a more localized production and distribution, will reduce aspects of the footprint related to crops (17%), fishing (14%) or pastures (6%). Another 10% of the total footprint corresponds to the forestry industry and 1% to the artificialization of the soil. Focusing efforts on reducing wood consumption, as well as improving forestry policies will reduce the footprint in this area. Finally, reversing the urban policy of the last decades and stopping covering permeable land with new constructions will allow the environmental footprint not to increase in the coming years.
In short, the Basque Government has presented a report that shows the need to make changes in various areas of Basque society to reach higher levels of sustainability and territorial balance on a global scale.
Click here to see the Full report
Aitor Mingo Bilbao
MSc in Cities and Sustainability
NAIDER