Dr. N. Munal Meitei
Environmentalist, presently working as DFO/Chandel,
email- nmunall@yahoo.in
Earth Overshoot Day 2025 celebrates on July 24, to remind the date when humanity will have used up nature’s entire annual budget of ecological resources and services that Earth can regenerate in a year. This means that from that point onward, humanity live in ecological debt, relying on depleting natural resources and accumulating waste, primarily emitting more CO₂ than ecosystems can absorb.
This day is the calculated illustrative calendar date on which humanity’s resource consumption for the year exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources in that year. The term “overshoot” represents the level by which human population’s demand overshoots the sustainable amount of biological resources regenerated on Earth. When viewed through an economic perspective, the annual Earth Overshoot Day represents the day by which the planet’s annual regenerative budget is spent, and humanity enters environmental deficit spending. This day is calculated by dividing the world biocapacity, the amount of natural resources regenerated by Earth in that year by the world ecological footprint, humanity’s consumption of Earth’s natural resources for that year, and multiplying by 365 (366 in leap years), the number of days in a year.
Global Footprint Network measures humanity’s demand for and supply of natural resources and ecological services. The Network estimates for 2025 that in just about seven months, humanity demanded more from nature than the planet’s ecosystems can regenerate in the entire year. Human demand includes all demands that compete for the regenerative capacity of the planet’s surface, such as renewable resources, CO2 sequestration and urban space.
Throughout the history, humanity has used nature’s resources to build cities and roads, to provide food and create products and to release CO₂ at a rate that was well within Earth’s budget. But by the early 1970s, that critical threshold had been crossed: Human consumption began outstripping what the planet could reproduce. The humanity’s demand for resources is now equivalent to that of more than 1.8 Earths. The data shows on track to require the resources of two planets well before mid-21st century. The costs of resource depletion are becoming more evident. Climate change – a result of greenhouse gases being emitted – is the most obvious result and widespread effects. Other biophysical effects include: deforestation, biodivsersity loss, soil erosion, or fisheries collapse.
Among the priority intervention programs of Resources Management is aiming at reducing our ecological footprint and achieving carbon neutrality which include lower energy, water and raw material consumption, smarter infrastructure like lighting, heating, mobility and responsible logistics and supply chains. Moreover, increasing EV charging stations, LED lighting across facilities and increased share of renewable energy in procurement are some more options.
Earth Overshoot Day is not just a date, it’s a warning. We need to take up measurable steps to reverse the trend. But we can’t do it alone. Sustainability is a shared journey and we need everyone to join in building a more resilient future.
Together, we can make a difference and build a more sustainable future for all. Currently, humanity is using nature 80% faster than Earth’s ecosystems can regenerate. 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.
UN agencies and affiliated bodies, which provide all the input data for these 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.
Earth Overshoot Day has remained relatively steady for the past decade, but it still falls early in this year. Humanity lives by depleting natural capital, further eroding the biosphere. Even if the date stays unchanged, the pressure on the planet continues to grow, as the damage from overshoot accumulates over time.
Since global ecological overshoot began in the early 1970s, annual deficits have accumulated into a growing ecological debt. This debt now amounts to the equivalent of 22 years of the Earth’s full biological productivity. In other words, if ecological overshoot were fully reversible, it would take 22 years of the planet’s full regenerative capacity to restore the lost balance. Yet, it is unlikely that the entire ecological debt is reversible.
If overshoot continues at its current level, this debt will grow by approximately 0.8 planet-years each year. One measurable consequence of this cumulative overshoot is the rise in atmospheric CO₂ levels: since global overshoot began, concentrations have increased by 100 parts per million (ppm). In 1970, CO₂ levels stood at 325 ppm above pre-industrial levels; today, they are 420 ppm above.
If we still want to call this planet our home, this level of overshoot calls for a scale of ambition in adaptation and mitigation that should dwarf any previous historical investments we have made, for the sake of our common future. Thus, the day serves as a crucial reminder of the need for sustainable practices and a shift towards a more balanced relationship with the environment.
