On sustainability interpretations of the Ecological Footprint

This paper focuses on using the Ecological Footprint concept for sustainability assessment. The Ecological Footprint is a popular indicator of human use of environmental resources and is commonly presented at the country level by comparing the consumption footprint with territorial biocapacity, with a negative balance implying unsustainability. This constrains a country's consumption by its biocapacity but allows its stock of resources to be depleted if they are not associated with domestic consumption. This paper argues that this approach is legitimate but should not automatically constitute a default framework for interpretation. Two perspectives on entitlements to environmental resources are analyzed and, based on them, a novel approach to sustainability assessment is proposed. The paper further discusses the links between national sustainability and the related issues of self-sufficiency, consumption, and responsibility.