In the 21st century, humanity’s second largest threat is ecological overshoot, our persistent overuse of our planet’s resources. The greatest threat is not responding to it.
Today is Earth Overshoot Day 2025, the date when humanity will have used up nature’s entire annual budget of ecological resources and services, according to Global Footprint Network, the international sustainability organization that pioneered the Ecological Footprint, and York University, which now produces the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts under the governance of FoDaFo.
Currently, humanity is using nature 80% faster than Earth’s ecosystems can regenerate, meaning this overshoot is equivalent to using 1.8 Earths. This level of overuse is possible by depleting natural capital, which compromises long-term resource security. The consequences are visible in deforestation, soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and the accumulation of CO₂ in the atmosphere, contributing to more frequent extreme weather events and declining food production.
The calculation
Earth Overshoot Day is determined using the latest edition of the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts (2025 edition). These accounts provide complete data through 2022 and estimates for 2023 and 2024 based on partial data and extrapolations. Global Footprint Network further estimated the likely results for 2025.
UN agencies and affiliated bodies, which provide all the input data for our accounts, regularly revise their data sets, which can lead to updates in historical Ecological Footprint and biocapacity calculations. One major revision this year was a downward adjustment of the ocean’s carbon sequestration capacity. This, along with a slightly higher per capita Footprint and slightly lower per capita biocapacity, shifted Earth Overshoot Day eight days earlier than in 2024. Seven of these eight days are due to the data revisions…
Diocese of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission 