Belgian ecological footprint: fifth highest in the world

According to the biennial “Living Planet Report”, published by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), our country has made it into the top five of nations with the largest ecological footprints.

Every Belgian requires an ecological footprint of 7.45 global hectares to sustain his or her lifestyle.

A global hectare is a unit which represents the amount of biologically productive land and water used per person per year.

If every human on the planet would lead the same lifestyle as the Belgians, we would need 4.3 Earths in order to live comfortably.

The biggest culprit Belgium has to battle is its energy usage, which accounts for more than half of the ecological footprint.

The most important difference with our neighbouring countries is that Belgium uses much more energy when it comes to family life and transport.

“Belgium has a large amount of relatively old, badly insulated buildings that are, as a result, very energy-deficient”, explains Damien Vincent, CEO of WWF Belgium.

“The fuel used for international maritime transport and aviation has a pernicious effect on the ecological footprints of small countries like Belgium, but that doesn’t mean that our number isn’t extremely high”, adds WWF spokesperson Koen Stuyck.

Belgium is preceded in the Living Planet Report by Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Denmark.

The United States (8th) managed to drop three places compared to two years ago, because of their transition from coal to shale gas.

“Shale gas will eventually lead to an environmental crisis as well, but it emits a lot less CO2”, according to Mr Stuyck.

The Living Planet Report also recorded a 52 per cent decline in biodiversity in the last 40 years.

The decline is the highest in the tropics.

“The sheer loss of biodiversity and the damage done to the ecosystems essential to our existence is nothing short of alarming”, according to Damien Vincent.

Nonetheless, the situation could be reversed by, for example, setting up a network of officially protected nature reserves.

“Nepal succeeded in increasing its tiger population and in the South African Krugerpark, the number of elephants is again on the rise.”

In conclusion, the WWF proposes five solutions: preserving natural capital, consuming wisely, redirecting financial flow, producing more effectively and the sharing of available sources.

They also name the Ghent initiative “Veggie Thursday”, on which inhabitants are encouraged to forego eating meat, as a good example of how cities can contribute to a less wasteful society.

Flandersnews.be / Expatica