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- further glossaries -

Appropriated Carrying Capacity

another name for the ecological footprint. ‘Appropriated’ signifies captured, claimed or occupied. Ecological footprints remind us that we appropriate ecological capacity for food, fibres, energy, waste absorption etc. In industrial regions, a large part of these flows is imported.

Anthropogenic

produced by human activities

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Biological capacity

refers to the total of the biologically productive areas. See also ‘biologically productive areas’

Biologically productive areas

those areas of a country with quantitatively significant plant and animal productivity. Biologically productive areas of a country comprise its biological capacity. Arable land is the potentially most productive area

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Calorific value

The energy content of a fuel measured as the heat released on complete combustion

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

A gas which is naturally emitted by living organisms as well as during the combustion of fossil fuels. The latter is problematic since it leads to increased concentrations in the atmosphere

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Ecological deficit

of a country or region measures the amount by which its footprint exceeds the locally available ecological capacity

Ecological footprint

is the land and water area that is required to support indefinitely the material standard of living of a given human population, using prevailing technology

Ecological remainder or remaining ecological capacity

Countries or regions with footprints smaller than their locally available ecological capacity are endowed with an ecological remainder – the difference between capacity and footprint. Today in many cases, this remainder is occupied by the footprints of other regions or countries (through export production). See also ‘ecological deficit’

Embodied energy

of a commodity is the energy used during its entire life cycle for manufacturing, transporting, using and disposing Fossil fuels – coal, natural gas and fuels derived from crude oil (for example petrol and diesel).

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Hectare

one hectare (ha) is 10,000 square metres (100 x 100 metres). One hectare is equivalent to 2.47 acres

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Locally available capacity

is the part of the locally existing ecological capacity that is available for human use. The remaining part should be left untouched for preserving biological diversity. In this book, we calculate the available capacity by subtracting 12 per cent from the existing capacity, as suggested by the Brundtland Report

Locally existing capacity

refers to the total ecological production that is found within the country’s territories. It is expressed in hectares usually based on world average productivity

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Natural capital

refers to the stock of natural assets that yield goods and services continuously. Main functions include resource production (such as fish, timber or cereals), waste assimilation (such as CO2 absorption, sewage decomposition) and life support services (UV protection, biodiversity, water cleansing, climate stability)

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Overshoot

according to William Catton, is ‘growth beyond an area’s carrying capacity, leading to crash’

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Photosynthesis

is the biological process in chlorophyll-containing cells that convert sunlight, CO 2 , water, and nutrients into plant matter (biomass). All food chains that support animal life – including our own – are based on this plant matter

Productivity

is measured in biological production per year and hectare. A typical indicator of biological productivity is the biomass accumulation of an ecosystem

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Waste factors

(used in round-wood calculations) give the ratio of one cubic metre of round wood used per cubic metre (or tonne) of product

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Yield adjusted area

refers to the biologically productive space expressed in world average productivity. It is calculated by multiplying the physically existing space by the yield factors

Yield factor

is the factor by which the country’s ecosystems are more productive than the world average. A yield factor of 0.5 indicates that local productivity is only half of the global average

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Further glossaries

Redefining Progress' footprint glossary.

USA Environmental Protection Agency terms of environment.

European Environment Agency multilingual environmental glossary.

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