The risk-based environmental footprints and sustainability deficits of nations

Abstract

The implementation of environmental sustainability accounting has attracted academic attention; however, methods to accommodate local biophysical limitations remain underexplored. We developed a novel risk–footprint environmental sustainability assessment (Risk–Footprint ESA) framework to measure a country's environmental sustainability with respect to local biophysical capacity to help nations take collective action to stay within a safe operating space. Our findings indicated that the global environmental footprints of water, land, energy, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus witnessed variable increases of 325 %, 39 %, 36 %, 95 %, 6 %, and 3 % respectively, between 1990 and 2015. China, India, and the United States exhibited the largest footprints across these categories. Excluding water and land use, it appears that the global population is not maintaining lifestyles within the limits of the planet. Furthermore, the most effectively managed resource was land, with nearly 95 % of the countries maintaining sustainable reserves from 1990 to 2015. Conversely, nitrogen presents the greatest challenge in achieving sustainability, with only 25 % of the countries managing a reserve for this indicator. Additionally, there was a correlation between rising affluence and exceeding sustainability limits, suggesting that low income reduces the chances of eradicating poverty and diminishes the ability to maintain environmental sustainability.