The Four Footprints what are they & why are they important?

1. The Four Footprintswhat are they & why are they important? Dr Michael Warhurst Friends of the Earth

2. Contents • The global context • Identifying the four footprints • Land footprint – rising swiftly up the agenda • EU progress & opportunities • Conclusions

3. The global context • Despite efforts to increase resource efficiency in Europe, our resource use continues to increase • Increases in efficiency outweighed by increases in consumption • Other developed economies are showing similar patterns • Resource use is increasing rapidly in several less developed economies – notably India and China • Future improvements in quality of life in other developing economies – something we should be aiming for – will also increase resource use • Global population is still increasing • Global resource use is increasing rapidly

4. What’s the problem? • We are not on a sustainable path • And this is having environmental, social & economic impacts • This is about climate change… but also • Biodiversity loss, water shortages, pollution, land grabbing • Inequality, poverty, ‘natural disasters’ etc • We need to change & we need tools to help

5. EU context on resource use • 2005 – 2007: discussion of the EU’s Thematic strategy on natural resources • Key deficiency: What natural resources should we be measuring and managing? • Tonnage of stuff? • Environmental impact x tonnes of stuff? • Without measurement it is hard to manage (& even harder to set targets) • We decided to address this issue -

6. Measuring our resource use • We started a project in 2009 with Sustainable Europe Research Institute in Vienna • Included background papers, workshops etc. • Key assumptions: we must include our use of resources from everywhere in the world, but the system must be straightforward and achievable. • SERI came back in 2009 with four key aspects of our resource use [1] • the Four Footprints….

7. The Four Footprints • Land footprint – the real area of land used, wherever it is in the world • Carbon footprint – the total amount of climate changing gases released • Water footprint – the total volume of water used, whether freshwater, rainwater or water polluted by the activity • Material footprint – the tonnage of materials used, including e.g the ore mined in order to extract metals

8. Carbon Footprint • Climate change is a massive challenge • Most acknowledge this, a few resist • We must cut our carbon footprint • All greenhouse gases, whole supply chain • Not just domestic emissions – the climate doesn’t care where the emissions happen • Carbon footprint is a well developed indicator, with a ISO & UK standard • Used e.g. by Committee on Climate Change

9. Importing carbon emissions Largest interregional fluxes of emissions embodied in trade (Mt CO2 y−1) from dominant net exporting countries (blue) to the dominant net importing countries (red). (Davis and Caldera, 2010 [2])

10. Water Footprint • Another well established indicator • Though less than Carbon Footprint • Championed by the Water Footprint Network • Used by a wide range of companies & other organisations • In some areas water availability isn’t all that important – but in many places it is.

11. Imports and exports of virtual water, 2000 Source: Water Footprint Network, 2009 - http://www.waterfootprint.org/

12. Material Footprint • Material metrics are well established • Material footprint includes indirect flows in imported materials • Eurostat has well developed accounts on Raw Material Consumption • EU ready to adopt this metric

13. Next planetary boundary: Land ‘Buy land, they’re not making it any more’Mark Twain • Land is a key resource – for people, biodiversity. Pretty obvious! • And we only have one planet • Land has been strangely neglected • Tendency to focus on things linked to land – e.g. food, biodiversity, even soil organic carbon • UNEP International Resources panel report on land [3] must change this….

14. A new era for Land policy • “countries should monitor and control the level of their global land use for supplying their consumption” • “As an interim target, and for practical reasons one may orient towards 0.20 ha of cropland (1,970 m2) per person in 2030.” • EU using 0.31 ha per person, i.e. 1/3 cut needed • Climate has been a clear planetary boundary, now we have land too…

15. What is land footprint? • Land footprint is the simple area, in hectares of land: • Required to produce a product • Used by an organisation (including in its the supply chain) • Used by a country or region • Land footprint is a top-level resource use indicator • It facilitates monitoring and development of targets • It encourages and assists deeper analysis of land use

16. Where our land comes from Analysis of Europe’s Land Footprint by Sustainable Europe Research Institute, Vienna (SERI) [4]

17. Reducing our Land footprint • Ensure new policies have land footprint as part of impact assessment & act on results • E.g. Biofuels, biomass burning etc • Europe can’t increase its land footprint • Change our diet • German research examined the impact of dietary change on Germany’s land balance [5]. • E.g. Healthier (lower meat & dairy) diets & reduced stimulants would lead to zero net land import

18. Progress on land footprint • New European Environment Agency work programme: • Assessments of resource efficiency in relation to land take, land recycling, and virtual land use in Europe and third countries, supplemented by direct assessment of imperviousness (soil sealing) change (2015-2016) • Evaluation of the direct and indirect impact of EU policies on land and soil use in the EU and globally (2015-2018) [6] • DG Environment “Land as a Resource” communication  • Prep studies underway, Conference 19th June, consultation • Due out in 2015 (in theory….) • NGO Land footprint coalition

19. Four footprints overall • Can be used at all levels • Products, companies, organisations, countries, regions, impact assessment, modelling • All based on real resources & quite transparent • Deliberately described as “four footprints’ or resource footprints, not ‘environment’ or ‘sustainability’ • For fuller environmental coverage would add: • Pollution – excluding climate (probably an ‘index’) • Biodiversity – incorporating marine environment • For sustainability, must add other aspects

20. Footprints & development • A tool to look at both overconsumption and underconsumption • Relevant to the Sustainable Development goals debate, see paper by Bioregional & Beyond 2015 [7] • Footprints link directly to many development issues: • Land footprint - land grabbing, land rights, land competition, best practice • Carbon footprint - investing in global reduction on emissions - tech transfer, best practice • Water footprint - water conflicts, best practice • Material footprint - impacts of mining, waste, best practice

21. Where next at EU level? • Circular economy package due in May (?) • Including food, buildings, waste targets, overarching paper • European Resource Efficiency Platform • Multi-stakeholder platform, includes Friends of the Earth, OECD, European Commission, Unilever, German Environment Minister etc • Backed footprint approach in Summer 2013 recommendations, expected to develop this in March 31st final statement • Next commission: • Land research & policy [definite] • Real substantive targets? • Routine part of impact assessment – e.g. of CAP???

22. Conclusions • The four footprints approach builds on well-established indicators, adding in Land Footprint • The approach is becoming widely accepted • Virtual land is rapidly rising up the agenda (at last) • Key policy measures needed: • Improvement of methodology and data, then toolkits • Directional targets, then more specific targets (in next Commission?) • Impact assessment of all relevant new polices – e.g. renewable energy, bio-based economy, agriculture • More information: • www.foeeurope.org/resources • follow me on twitter: @mwarhurst

23. References • “How to measure Europe’s Resource Use”, Sustainable Europe Research Institute for Friends of the Earth Europe, July 2009:http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2009/seri_foee_measuring_eu_resource_use_final.pdf • Davis, S. J., & Caldeira, K. (2010). Consumption-based accounting of CO2 emissions. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 107(12), 5687-5692. • See http://www.unep.org/resourcepanel/Publications/AreasofAssessment/AssessingGlobalLandUseBalancingConsumptionw/tabid/132063/Default.aspx • “Europe’s global land demand”, Sustainable Europe Research Institute, 2011http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2011/Europe_Global_Land_Demand_Oct11.pdf Briefing: http://www.foeeurope.org/publications/2011/Briefing_Europe_Global_Land_Demand_Oct11.pdf • Meier, T., Christen, O., Semler, E., Jahreis, G., Voget-Kleschin, L., Schrode, A. et al. (2013). Balancing virtual land imports by a shift in the diet. Using a land balance approach to assess the sustainability of food consumption. Germany as an example. Appetite, 74C, 20-34. • http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/multiannual-work-programme-2014-2018?utm_source=EEASubscriptions&utm_medium=RSSFeeds&utm_campaign=Generic • Eg, see “One Planet Living - The case for Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Post - 2015 development agenda”http://www.bioregional.com/news-views/publications/one-planet-living-the-case-for-sustainable-consumption-and-production-in-the-post-2015-development-agenda/