Today is the day when we all become "overdrawn" in the most important account of all -the Earth's. Earth Overshoot Day markes the day in our calendar each year that we consume more of the Earth's resources than nature can produce or regenerate in 12 calendar months. This year it falls a full month earlier than 2009.
However the statistics are calculated - Earth Overshoot Day was inspired by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) a UK think tank for which I am a member - it is a simple means of putting in black and white what all of us understand. That is living beyond our means.
Andrew Simms, Policy Director at NEF sums it up profoundly: "The banking crisis taught us the danger of a system that goads us to live beyond our means financially" he says. "A greater danger comes from a consumer culture and economic policy that pushes us to live beyond our means ecologically."
The major concern? When do our World leaders start to address the uncomfortable truths in order to start solving the problem......
