Earth Overshoot Day: Humanity overconsumes planet's resources after just seven months in 2024

Stuart Stone
clock • 5 min read
Credit: iStock
Image:

Credit: iStock

Humanity's demand for natural resources has today surpassed Earth’s capacity to regenerate them after just seven months of 2024, according to the Global Footprint Network

Today has been designated as 'Earth Overshoot Day', marking the date in the calendar on which society's demands for natural resources surpass what the planet is able to regenerate in a given year. Designated...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

Stuart Stone
Author spotlight

Stuart Stone

View profile
More from Stuart Stone

BNEF: Thousands of firms could face $1.4tr in carbon price 'exposure' over the next decade

Metal Morph raises £700K backing to recover aluminium and chemicals from wastewater

More on Climate change

Could mortgages help homeowners foot the bill for climate resilience upgrades?
Climate change

Could mortgages help homeowners foot the bill for climate resilience upgrades?

More than half of renters and outright owners would favour using a mortgage to fund shading, cooling, insulation, ventilation and solar panels to better protect their homes against extreme weather, fresh research has found

Stuart Stone
Stuart Stone
clock 13 August 2026 • 8 min read
'Tough decisions': UK dairy farmer lifts lid on struggles amid ongoing drought
Climate change

'Tough decisions': UK dairy farmer lifts lid on struggles amid ongoing drought

One organic dairy farmer claims he has been forced to sell 60 of his cows to 'reduce forage demand'

Rachael Brown, Farmers Guardian
clock 12 August 2026 • 3 min read
National security depends on climate and nature - the UK government must act like it
Climate change

National security depends on climate and nature - the UK government must act like it

The test for Andy Burnham is not whether the UK can afford to prioritise climate and nature, but whether Britain can afford a 10-year plan that does not, writes WWF UK's chief executive Tanya Steele

Tanya Steele, WWF UK
clock 12 August 2026 • 5 min read