9.5.2025

World Overshoot Day

Last Saturday, May 3, 2025, was the so-called World Overshoot Day 2025 for Germany. In an annual campaign by the Global Footprint Network, World Overshoot Day is the day on which the ecological footprint exceeds biocapacity, i.e., the total renewable resources and CO²removal capacity available within a year are used up. If the day fell on December 31st of a given year, we would be living sustainably.

Earth Overshoot Day is calculated for the world as a whole, but also for individual countries, and is therefore a mathematical and simplified definition. It is intended to illustrate when humanity begins to live beyond its means with regard to the environment. At the same time, it calculates how many Earths humanity would need to sustain its lifestyle. Worldwide, this would require 1.7 Earths.

Living on Credit

Earth Overshoot Day is defined in economic terms to make it more tangible. Translating the collective lifestyle and its ecological impacts into individual economic activity reveals the absurdity of this lifestyle.

Resources in individual life include housing, food, clothing, energy, movies, etc. Individuals generally plan and lead their lives so that they have all of these permanently available and can afford them. If resources are already exhausted on May 3rd of a year, they would have to live under a bridge by May 4th, have nothing left to eat, etc. Unless they have reserves that they can use while they last. In retirement planning, for example, these reserves are built up for the phase of life in which the pension is less than the last salary, but the cost of living remains the same.

If these reserves are not available or no longer exist, one has to take on debt. However, debt only makes sense, or one can only get a loan from the bank, if one can repay it. If it is foreseeable that one will not be able to get a loan, one will try to slow down the use of reserves in order to make ends meet, i.e., live more frugally and tighten one's belt. This is the norm for individual economics.

However, this exact behavior does not occur in humanity's collective lifestyle. Reserves in the form of resources and emission reduction capacities still exist, but they are dwindling. As more CO² is emitted than is removed, the Earth warms, and the extent and frequency of environmental disasters increase. Even more dramatic, however, is that these resources are not available on credit. Once they are used up, they are gone.

At the same time, the Earth is humanity's habitat. Individual living space, such as a home, is inhabited and used. Consumption involves things like paper, food, or gasoline, which can be purchased again later. But the Earth cannot be purchased again later. Nevertheless, we do not only use it; instead, we consume it without having an alternative when it is used up.

Why this collective lifestyle, which no normal person would maintain in their own life?

In our December article on global warming at a record pace in 2024, we described the problems to which environmental protection repeatedly falls victim. Such problems include prominent disregard for the issue, the environment as a public good, the prioritization of "urgent" over "important," the inflation of crisis and warning messages, and the human tendency to only tackle things when they can no longer be postponed.

The dates for Earth Overshoot Day reveal additional aspects. In 1961, the day fell worldwide in May 1962, meaning there were resources left over. In 1970, it was December 29th. For 2025, it falls on August 2nd. In 55 years, it has moved forward by five months – resource consumption has continuously accelerated.

Germany's Earth Overshoot Day is already on May 3rd. This means that Germany is already living beyond its means three months earlier than the global average. On the other hand, in 2017, it was already on April 17th. Environmental protection measures have pushed the day back in recent years, i.e., in the right direction. In the USA, the day is already in mid-March, and in countries like Qatar, it is already in February. This clearly shows that the major industrialized nations are massively consuming resources at the expense of poorer countries. However, poorer countries are feeling the effects of global warming to the same extent.

These are figures that also trigger considerations of justice. When six prominent celebrities fly into orbit for a few minutes in a Jeff Bezos rocket, they consume resources that poorer segments of humanity probably won't use in their lifetime. Equally relevant is the fact that resources are consumed by one generation, but the consequences are borne by the next.

The Earth Deserves Respect

The Earth is humanity's habitat and home, not a consumable, but a commodity. It exists only once. This article is not intended to ignore realities and circumstances, necessities of life, or economic realities. On the other hand, there is necessary traffic and unnecessary traffic, necessary packaging and unnecessary packaging, necessary waste and unnecessary waste. Despite all the realities that have to be respected, there are numerous starting points in every practical life to make a difference.

Environmental protection is important, possible, and sometimes so simple.