About 2.8 planets would be needed if rest of world followed suit, biocapacity data shows

Europe is using up natural resources so quickly that the planet’s ability to replenish itself over the year would be exhausted by this Friday if everyone consumed as much, a new analysis has found.

It would take 2.8 planets to extend the EU’s rate of consumption of fuels, food, fibres, land and timber to all the world’s people, according to data collected by WWF and the Global Footprint Network.

The alarming report follows a warning from a UN panel that the scale and pace of biodiversity loss is now endangering the foundations of human society itself.

Ester Asin,the director of WWF’s European policy office, said: “EU Overshoot Day is a stark reminder that EU consumption is contributing to the Earth’s looming ecological and climate collapse. This is not only irresponsible, it is outright dangerous. Urgent action is needed, and EU leaders must summon the political will to treat this situation as an emergency and set us on a path towards a sustainable future for Europe.”

If the EU were a country, it would have the world’s third-highest ecological footprint, behind the US and China. While Europe makes up just 7% of the world’s population, it exploits a fifth of its biocapacity, mostly through greenhouse gas emissions.

The import of products such as palm oil, soy, cocoa and rubber from deforested parts of Latin America, Africa and Asia also have a heavy impact on biodiversity and nature.

Mathis Wackernagel, the founder and president of Global Footprint Network, said: “We are running a pyramid scheme, taking resources from the future to run today’s economy. It needs no reminder that this is risky for Europe’s prosperity. Choosing to deplete our future does not serve us.”

WWF’s “Overshoot Day” for the Earth as a whole is due in about three months, although it arrives earlier each year. Overshoot dates are worked out by averaging the ecological footprint of citizens in each country and comparing it with the Earth’s annual “biocapacity” to restore its depleted natural wealth.

The new analysis is the first focused on Europe alone. It finds that European overshoot days vary, with coal-reliant Luxembourg using up its natural budget within 46 days of 2016 while Romania made it to 12 July. The UK burned through its planetary boundaries a week after the EU average, on 17 May.

But this is still a far cry from countries such as Cuba, Morocco or Niger, whose overshoot days fall in December. In 1961, Europe was able to live sustainably until October 13.

The EU’s competition commissioner and Liberal presidential candidate Margrethe Vestager described the WWF report as “a clear call to action” for conservation of the Earth’s bounty.

She said: “It is important to get more people on board and say this is not only doable; it is also a wise thing to do. It is good for our living conditions, but there is also a business logic to it.”

The commission vice-president and socialist presidential candidate Frans Timmermans said: “If we make the shift to a more sustainable economy, to a more sustainable society, we do not jeopardise our level of wellbeing; we increase our levels of wellbeing.”

Nico Cué, the candidate for the Party of the European Left, said: “We cannot continue this way. We need to change the way we consume and the way we build and create products. It is possible; it only requires the development of new production mechanisms and recycling schemes.”

Climate action is advancing slowly, with emissions at record levels and figures released by the International Energy Agency yesterday showing that renewable energy growth stalled last year. An extra 300GW of new capacity is needed every year between now and 2030 to meet the Paris climate agreement goals.

After a wave of climate strikes and protests, France, Spain and six other EU countries are calling for immediate action at an EU summit in Sibiu onThursday. But it is unlikely to pass without support from EU heavyweights such as Germany, Italy and Poland.

While the bloc sees itself as a global climate and environment leader, it is unlikely to fully meet its 2020 goals for biodiversity, overfishing and energy conservation.