Footprint: 1961 vs 2007

The Ecological Footprint has more than doubled since 1961 – largely because of an enormous increase in the carbon component.

For the first time, the Ecological Footprint has been analyzed over time, looking at changes in magnitude and Footprint components in different political-economic groupings of countries.
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Figure 20: The relative size and composition of the total Ecological Footprint in OECD, BRIC, ASEAN and African Union countries in 1961 and 2007 The total area of each pie chart shows the relative magnitude of the Footprint for each political region. LPR2010
© Global Footprint Network

Southeast Asia: most rapid increase in carbon footprint

The carbon footprint of the OECD is by far the largest of all regions and has increased 10-fold since 1961.

The total carbon footprint other regions is smaller, but has increased more rapidly:
  • more than 100-fold in ASEAN countries
  • 30-fold in African Union countries
  • 20-fold in BRIC countries.

Shift from biomass- to carbon-dominated Footprint

The relative contribution from the cropland, grazing land and forest footprint components has generally decreased for all regions since 1961. This reflects the substitution of fossil fuel-based energy for ecological resource consumption.
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