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Environmental problems caused by human activities have been raised as a serious challenge for global sustainable development in recent decades. One of the key concepts in this field is the ecological footprint, which refers to the consumption of natural resources by human society and compared to the concept of biological capacity, which indicates the ability of the earth to meet human needs and absorb waste; it evaluates the ecological deficiency of the region. The present study analyzed the biological products in order to calculate the load and pressure on nature as a result of human exploitation and the capacity of the biosphere to provide the land needed for carbon absorption, energy consumption, transportation and etc. In this research, the ecological footprint method with the global hectare (gha) measurement unit has been used to analyze the data, and the ecological deficit has been estimated for the townships Mazandaran province. The results showed that the per capita ecological deficit of the entire province in year of 2021 was - 0.49 global hectares for each person, which indicated the imbalance between economic activities and environmental protection, as well as excessive consumption of natural resources. Ramsar was the most unsustainable township with the highest per capita ecological deficit (1.03 hectares), and Golugah was the most sustainable region in the province with the highest per capita ecological reserve (2.5 global hectares). The research can create a platform for decision makers and officials to take appropriate measures and make informed decisions to preserve the environment and sustainable development of the province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to develop purple-coloured polymeric coatings using natural anthocyanin and desoxyanthocianidins (3-DXA) colourants for application to chocolate almonds. The objective is to achieve a stable and uniform colour formulation throughout processing and storage, enhancing the appearance and durability of the almonds to appeal to health-conscious consumers and align with market demands. Plant materials like sweet potato pulp, sweet potato peel, radish peel, black carrot, and sorghum were employed to obtain the desired purple hue. Anthocyanidins and 3-DXA were extracted from the matrices using solvent extraction and ultrasound-assisted methods at different pH values. High-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) and high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HRMS/MS) were used to identify the compounds in the extracts. The highest antioxidant capacities, as measured by the DPPH• and FRAP methods, were observed in purple sweet potato and dye factory extracts, respectively; meanwhile, sorghum extract inhibited both α-amylase and α-glucosidase, indicating its potential for managing postprandial hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes. The degradation kinetics of coloured coatings in sugar syrup formulations with anthocyanins and 3-DXA revealed that locust bean gum offered the best colour stabilization for plant extracts, with sorghum extracts showing the highest and black carrot extracts the lowest colour variation when coated with Arabic gum. Sweet potato pulp extracts exhibited less colour variation in sugar pastes, both with and without blue spirulina dye, compared to factory dye, highlighting their potential as a more stable and suitable alternative for colouring purple almonds, particularly over a five-month storage period. This study supports sustainable practices in the confectionery industry while aligning with consumer preferences for healthier and environmentally friendly products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Electrónica de Enseñanza de las Ciencias is the property of Revista Electronica de Ensenanza de las Ciencias and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It is often hypothesized that adaptive capacity leads to increased yield. However, the veracity of this assumption in quantitative terms has largely remained understudied by researchers. Also, adaptation depends on the vulnerability of the agricultural sector, climate risks, biocapacity of the area, readiness and adaptive capacities of stakeholders. Adaptation can only take place if stakeholders are ready to respond and resources are also available. To understand these relationships, the paper examined the impacts of climate change, food vulnerability, adaptive capacity, biocapacity and readiness on yields of major cereal crops in thirty-five African countries. We used the panel autoregressive distributive lag model to analyse publicly available panel data obtained from FAOSTAT, Global Foot Print Network, and Notre Dame Adaptation Index databases, and World Bank Group Climate Change Knowledge Portal. The results show that biocapacity, adaptive capacity, food sector vulnerability, and temperature decreased rice yield in the long. Biocapacity increased maize and sorghum yields, while adaptive capacity decreased their yields in the long run. Food sector vulnerability and temperature decreased maize yield in the long run, while temperature increased sorghum yield in the long run. The results suggest that improvement in adaptive capacity is an important policy tool to increase the yield of some cereal crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earth Overshoot Day is used as an exemplary case to suggest actions to obtain better compliance between the ecological footprints and biocapacities of the world's regions. This study was based on the Global Footprint Network's free public data on Earth Overshoot Day. The analyses of the data applied a partial ordering methodology in combination with the so-called Philosophy Model, leading to a joint ranking of the regions based on the simultaneous inclusion of ecological footprint data and data on biocapacities. The ranking was topped by South America, whereas North America and the Middle East/Central Asia were at the bottom of the list. Biocapacity was found to be the most important ranking indicator. Thus, doubling the biocapacity for each region would, on a global scale, lead to a population reserve of approx. 1.5 billion, whereas a halving of the individual ecological footprint would still lead to a population deficit of approximately 1 billion. The footprints and the biocapacities are composed of six and five sub-indicators, respectively, and the carbon footprint together with the built-up land footprint is the most important sub-indicator. To comply with the corresponding available biocapacity, significant reductions in the carbon footprint are needed, close to 50% for high-income countries. The ethical issues, as well as their interconnection with the Sustainable Development Goals, were discussed, with a focus on carbon footprints and well-being, as well as educating women, as illustrative cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The sustainable development of the planet and ensuring a sustainable future for future generations requires harmonizing the relationship between wellbeing and natural resources consumed, between happy life expectancy and the biocapacity of the planet. An indicator that evaluates this report is the Happy Planet Index (HPI) whose calculation mode includes three variables: life expectancy, experienced wellbeing and ecological footprint. Starting from these, the paper analyzes the degree of concentration of 46 European states, both through the lens of the HPI and its three components, highlighting the relationships between happy life expectancy and biocapacity per capita in each of them. Also, the position of the member states of the European Union is highlighted, both among the other European states and among the states of the world.

This study aims to develop purple-coloured polymeric coatings using natural anthocyanin and desoxyanthocianidins (3-DXA) colourants for application to chocolate almonds. The objective is to achieve a stable and uniform colour formulation throughout processing and storage, enhancing the appearance and durability of the almonds to appeal to health-conscious consumers and align with market demands. Plant materials like sweet potato pulp, sweet potato peel, radish peel, black carrot, and sorghum were employed to obtain the desired purple hue. Anthocyanidins and 3-DXA were extracted from the matrices using solvent extraction and ultrasound-assisted methods at different pH values. High-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) and high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HRMS/MS) were used to identify the compounds in the extracts. The highest antioxidant capacities, as measured by the DPPH• and FRAP methods, were observed in purple sweet potato and dye factory extracts, respectively; meanwhile, sorghum extract inhibited both α-amylase and α-glucosidase, indicating its potential for managing postprandial hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes. The degradation kinetics of coloured coatings in sugar syrup formulations with anthocyanins and 3-DXA revealed that locust bean gum offered the best colour stabilization for plant extracts, with sorghum extracts showing the highest and black carrot extracts the lowest colour variation when coated with Arabic gum. Sweet potato pulp extracts exhibited less colour variation in sugar pastes, both with and without blue spirulina dye, compared to factory dye, highlighting their potential as a more stable and suitable alternative for colouring purple almonds, particularly over a five-month storage period. This study supports sustainable practices in the confectionery industry while aligning with consumer preferences for healthier and environmentally friendly products.

The article argues that we need a concrete, simple, well‐justified, and global concept for climate justice, and then suggests such a concept. It starts with the abstract idea that nobody should use more than what provides others, both those living now and in the future, with the same opportunity to live on a sustainable planet. This idea is then made concrete by the use of the concept of a global hectare, which is further transformed into the currency of climate dollars in order to establish a clear understanding of what constitutes fair and sustainable behavior. The suggestion is defended against a long list of objections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable development of the planet and ensuring a sustainable future for future generations requires harmonizing the relationship between wellbeing and natural resources consumed, between happy life expectancy and the biocapacity of the planet. An indicator that evaluates this report is the Happy Planet Index (HPI) whose calculation mode includes three variables: life expectancy, experienced wellbeing and ecological footprint. Starting from these, the paper analyzes the degree of concentration of 46 European states, both through the lens of the HPI and its three components, highlighting the relationships between happy life expectancy and biocapacity per capita in each of them. Also, the position of the member states of the European Union is highlighted, both among the other European states and among the states of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of bilig: Journal of Social Sciences of the Turkish World is the property of bilig: Journal of Social Sciences of the Turkish World and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Amending the definition of energy land, this paper calculates and analyzes China's energy ecological footprint, energy biocapacity, energy ecological deficit or surplus, energy ecological footprint efficiency, and energy ecological footprint index based on the carbon cycle. Meanwhile, this paper applies the ARIMA model to predict China's energy ecological footprint. The results show that the per capita energy ecological footprint continues to rise and the per capita energy biocapacity continues to decline. In 2010, the growth of China's energy ecological footprint exceeds energy biocapacity for the first time and becomes an unsustainable state. Energy ecological footprint efficiency continues to increase and is in an ecological deficit and economically developed zone after 2010. From a structural point of view, China's energy ecological footprint mainly consists of row coal, coke, and crude oil consumption. The main reason for the increase in energy ecological footprint is the rapid increase in row coal and crude oil consumption while energy efficiency can mitigate this impact. From 2020 to 2030, China's energy ecological footprint will increase from 1.2207 to 1.3573 ha/cap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The ecological footprint (EF) has been used as an environmental indicator in most of the past research. Due to the complex linkages between economic growth and human development, EF has been inadequately understood in policy making. This research attempts to investigate the impacts of economic growth, human capital, biocapacity, and urbanization on the factors affecting the ecological footprint (EF) of five South Asian countries. To provide empirical evidence, this study utilizes the annual data from 1990 to 2022 for Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The findings confirm the positive contribution of GDP, human capital, biocapacity, and urbanization to EF. The causality analysis shows feedback association between GDP and EF, human capital and EF, and biocapacity and EF.

Territories are at the forefront of efforts to curtail the trajectory of their environmental impacts and enhance their economic and ecological resilience. To expedite the process of curving the ecological footprint, France has launched the Ecological Transition Plan (ETP). However, environmental programs in France are orchestrated at the national and regional levels, which tends to diminish the heterogeneity of territorial dynamics. This underscores a disparity in scale that might potentially hinder the translation of the ETP's objectives (Top-Down) into feasible local initiatives (Bottom-Up), and vice versa. To bridge this gap, we suggest employing the Ecological Footprint as a monitoring framework, in conjunction with a spatially-nested approach. This combination aims to guarantee the precise conversion of objectives into impactful local actions. Results reveal that only 27% of French territories are encountering an ecological deficit, while the remaining 73% are classified as ecological reserves. The primary sectors contributing to this ecological overshoot are “road transport” (28.8%), followed by “industry” (21.4%), and “agriculture” (19.5%). We posit that this spatially-nested analysis can unravel territorial heterogeneities and facilitate the design of more nuanced and appropriately tailored ecological actions across different scales.

The ecological footprint (EF) has been used as an environmental indicator in most of the past research. Due to the complex linkages between economic growth and human development, EF has been inadequately understood in policy making. This research attempts to investigate the impacts of economic growth, human capital, biocapacity, and urbanization on the factors affecting the ecological footprint (EF) of five South Asian countries. To provide empirical evidence, this study utilizes the annual data from 1990 to 2022 for Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The findings confirm the positive contribution of GDP, human capital, biocapacity, and urbanization to EF. The causality analysis shows feedback association between GDP and EF, human capital and EF, and biocapacity and EF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the impact of natural resources, urbanization, biological capacity, and economic growth (EG) on the ecological footprint (EFP) in Turkey between 1970 and 2018. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method was used to investigate the short- and long-term effects. The findings indicate that EG and biological capacity increase the EFP in both the short and long term. In addition to these results, the long-term results show that the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis is valid for Turkey and that urbanization has a negative impact on the EFP. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) applied to determine the relationship between the variables reveals that, in the short term, unilateral causalities exist from EG to the EFP, from urbanization to economic growth, and from biological capacity to EG. The long-term causality results show a bidirectional causality relationship between the EFP, urbanization and biological capacity. In light of these findings, important policy recommendations are provided for policymakers in Turkey to achieve sustainable growth and improve environmental quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of the difference between ecological footprint and biocapacity to evaluate the sustainable development of a country may be biased. Therefore, we discuss the nonlinear impact of the ecological footprint on biocapacity from the perspective of the self‐regulation capacity of the ecosystem, which provides a new perspective for evaluating the sustainability of a country. Using panel data of the G20 countries, this study establishes a panel smooth transition model with a continuous transition process, which abandons the constraints of linear models and agrees with the gradual characteristics of ecosystem evolution. The results show that: (1) For the G20 countries, the influence of ecological footprint on biocapacity presents an inverted "U" curve. (2) From the perspective of the degree of development of a country, the growth of the ecological footprint of a developing country will weaken its biocapacity, whereas that of a developed country will enhance its biocapacity. (3) Economic growth weakens biocapacity, and overheated economic growth may have an irreversible impact on the ecosystem. (4) Technological progress and population density growth will enhance biocapacity. Recommendations for Resource Managers: A moderate increase in ecological footprint is conducive to the improvement of biocapacity. Due to the strong self‐repairing and self‐regulating function of the ecosystem, a reasonable ecological footprint will make the ecosystem reach a higher equilibrium state.All types of countries should follow the path of sustainable development, even developing countries with ecological surplus cannot take lightly on sustainable development.Technological progress is a good way to improve biocapacity. Due to the global nature of ecosystems, developed countries should help and support developing countries to update or develop new technologies, such as hybrid rice technology, energy conservation, and environmental protection technology, which will facilitate every country to obtain a higher level in sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Merely safeguarding ecologically spatial functions is not (or no longer) sufficient to maintain their ability to function in the course of climate change and under increasing pressure of use. Rather, a fundamental change of perspective also in spatial planning practice is required to build up a resilience-proof spatial ecology, especially due to the tension between biomass production, carbon storage and biodiversity protection. In this context, biocapacity resilience is put forward for discussion as an impetus for a guiding vision of spatial development. Possible opportunities for the actors of spatial planning are elaborated to better fulfil their regional steering mandate in the sense of precautionary planning under the lens of global challenges despite limited resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously documented studies in the literature on how tourism leads to economic growth in the form of tourism-led growth hypotheses (TLGH) has been investigated. This study presents a new perspective on the growth of tourism by considering its impact on conventional energy consumption, real income level, and emission via the channel of globalization. Sequences of econometric tests were conducted to validate the hypothesized claims between tourism development and growth impact on conventional energy consumption and pollution proxy by ecological footprints, globalization GDP per capita, biocapacity, and tourists for the case of France. Empirical evidence from the Granger causality test presents a uni-directional causality from ecological footprints to GDP per capita and from biocapacity to ecological footprints. The correlation matrix shows interrelation amongst series with biocapacity significantly correlating with ecological footprints with tourist’s arrival having a positive correlation with ecological footprints and a negative one with biocapacity. GPD per capita was found to positively affect the ecological footprints and have a negative correlation with biocapacity and a significant relationship with tourists' arrivals. Additionally, globalization exerts a positive impact on ecological footprints, and its effect on biocapacity was found to be negative although globalization's effect on tourists’ arrivals and per capita GDP is significant. The ARDL estimation indicated biocapacity as a neutral agent for ecological footprints, tourist arrivals having a negative impact on ecological footprints, and globalization significantly affecting ecological footprints. From these findings, it is evident that tourism growth has a significant impact on energy consumption and pollution. Policy recommendations were also provided in this study accordingly.

Merely safeguarding ecologically spatial functions is not (or no longer) sufficient to maintain their ability to function in the course of climate change and under increasing pressure of use. Rather, a fundamental change of perspective also in spatial planning practice is required to build up a resilience-proof spatial ecology, especially due to the tension between biomass production, carbon storage and biodiversity protection. In this context, biocapacity resilience is put forward for discussion as an impetus for a guiding vision of spatial development. Possible opportunities for the actors of spatial planning are elaborated to better fulfil their regional steering mandate in the sense of precautionary planning under the lens of global challenges despite limited resources.

In this study, we propose a method for downscaling ecological footprint (EF) and biocapacity (BC) to a 1-km square resolution for a spatially flexible analysis of environmental burden balance. To conduct EF downscaling (by land type and consumption category) for all terrestrial areas of Japan, the grid population was multiplied by the scaled EF per capita based on the consumption expenditures and income statistics available at the municipal level. The BC of each land type was estimated following the land-use map. Subsequently, a balance analysis between EF and BC showed the spatial distribution of EF, BC, and the environmental load excess ratio (EF/BC). The values of the environmental load excess ratio significantly varied between grids, and the spatial distributions differed depending on the land type. An example of multiscale balance analysis at municipal and prefectural scales by the developed dataset showed the different distributions of the environmental load excess ratio due to the scale of spatial boundaries and demonstrated its contribution to designing interregional cooperative policies from a multilayered perspective. The established high-resolution dataset can be utilized practically for flexibly analyzing the multilayered spatial boundaries to fill the scale mismatch between natural resources and administrative boundaries. The downscaling method proposed in this study can be applied beyond Japan if similar sets of statistics and land-use information are available, which will significantly improve the spatial resolution of the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship between economic development and environmental sustainability (ES) of 42 Asian countries from 2000 to 2017. We propose an ordinary least square (OLS) and fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) model to estimate the result. The OLS estimators of the balanced panel data on the aggregate sample and six subgroups of ecological area evidence some key findings. These are: (i) There is a significant positive linear relationship between economic growth (EG) and ecological footprint (EF); however, the relationship between EG and biocapacity (BC) is nonlinear. (ii) Among the subgroups that build up the land, samples depict a linear relationship with EG in EF and BC cases. (iii) Other than carbon-absorbing land and grazing land in the subgroup of EF, all other subgroups against environmental sustainability parameters show a nonlinear relationship with EG. (iv) The inverted U-shape curve is evident in Asian countries in explaining the relationship between EG and ES, and the impact of development indicator (GDP) on ecological subgroups is heterogeneous. The cointegration tests of the FMOLS model suggest the existence of a long-term relationship between the variables. Finally, the empirical observations show a growing trend of ecological deficit in Asia and advocate rapid policy development for environment-friendly economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the neoliberal paradigm, the increasing rate of globalization led to the production and consumption patterns of the economies have changed with the assumption that the way of prosperity is through economic growth, regardless of the limits of nature. It has had crucial negative consequences on nations’ ecological balance by using these natural resources unconcernedly. This study aims to investigate the relationship between globalization and ecological balance. In this context, the probable long-term relationship between the globalization rate index, economic growth and ecological balance sheet for the period covering 1970 to 2018 for Turkey was examined with the Maki cointegration test, which allows multiple structural breaks. According to the findings, it has been determined that there is a long-term relationship between the rate of globalization, growth rate, and ecological balance. DOLS technique was used for the long-term coefficient estimation of the variables with cointegration relationship. Accordingly, it has been revealed that the rate of globalization and growth have a negative and statistically significant effect on the ecological balance. In other words, the theoretical expectations have been confirmed: As an outcome of neoliberalism, as the pace of globalization and growth increase, Turkey's ecological balance sheet gives a deficit, and the ecological deficit gets deeper every year.

Previously documented studies in the literature on how tourism leads to economic growth in the form of tourism-led growth hypotheses (TLGH) has been investigated. This study presents a new perspective on the growth of tourism by considering its impact on conventional energy consumption, real income level, and emission via the channel of globalization. Sequences of econometric tests were conducted to validate the hypothesized claims between tourism development and growth impact on conventional energy consumption and pollution proxy by ecological footprints, globalization GDP per capita, biocapacity, and tourists for the case of France. Empirical evidence from the Granger causality test presents a uni-directional causality from ecological footprints to GDP per capita and from biocapacity to ecological footprints. The correlation matrix shows interrelation amongst series with biocapacity significantly correlating with ecological footprints with tourist’s arrival having a positive correlation with ecological footprints and a negative one with biocapacity. GPD per capita was found to positively affect the ecological footprints and have a negative correlation with biocapacity and a significant relationship with tourists' arrivals. Additionally, globalization exerts a positive impact on ecological footprints, and its effect on biocapacity was found to be negative although globalization's effect on tourists’ arrivals and per capita GDP is significant. The ARDL estimation indicated biocapacity as a neutral agent for ecological footprints, tourist arrivals having a negative impact on ecological footprints, and globalization significantly affecting ecological footprints. From these findings, it is evident that tourism growth has a significant impact on energy consumption and pollution. Policy recommendations were also provided in this study accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While people consume natural resources by interacting with the environment, they also cause some environmental changes. Environmental pollution and construction are among the most important reasons for these changes. In addition, the rate of renewal of natural resources remains slow while consumption is increasing. Thus, biocapacity is slow to renew itself compared to consumption, leading to the emergence of an ecological deficit. The largest share in the ecological deficit belongs to personal consumption. Based on this, the attitudes and behavior of individuals in Turkey to reduce their ecological footprint were examined in the context of ecological sustainability. The survey model was adopted in the study. The data collected from 773 people via the scale and various forms were analyzed. The results of the analysis show that the ecological footprint size in Turkey is above the world average in personal consumption. It has been determined that the participants have significant behavioral deficiencies in the behaviors towards reducing the ecological footprint, such as recycling, reusing the product by repairing, composting, not wasting water, food and clothing, and they tend to use packaged products excessively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scientific Journal of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) - Problems of World Agriculture / Problemy Rolnictwa Światowego is the property of Wydawnictwo SGGW and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Contingent upon the empirical work done, the current study seeks to investigate the environmental load capacity factor (LCF) consequences of financial development in three different ways for 48 Asian economies. We used the two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) technique to analyze the data from 1996 to 2020. Initially, we investigated the environmental consequences of financial development by considering six dimensions of financial development. Then, we modified the original environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) into the financial market-based EKC (FM-EKC) to compare short- and long-run environmental consequences of financial development. Ultimately, the study explores the intersecting marginal effects of financial development and institutional quality on environmental quality. Our results show that foreign direct investment (FDI), financial development, economic growth, and environmental quality (LCF) exhibit statistically significant long-run co-integrating relationships in the studied economies. This study demonstrated how FDI, financial development, and economic expansion contribute to environmental deterioration in 48 Asian countries. The nexus between finance and sustainability is moderated by the institutional quality and the regulatory environment, resulting in the FM-EKC idea. The key findings of system GMM analysis confirmed that Asian countries have an inverted U-shaped FM-EKC, which we attempt to explain with three different justifications. This study showed that the strong institutional structure in an economy guarantees the favorable environmental consequences of financial development in the long run. It also suggested that a healthier education structure of an economy can help improve the environmental quality of an economy.

It has become a hot topic in sustainable development to determine how to use data series to predict the trajectory of ecological footprints (EFs), precisely map biocapacity (BC), and effectively analyze regional sustainability. The sustainability of the ecological system in Gansu province must be investigated because the province is situated in western China and serves as a significant economic and transportation hub. We used the EF model to compute the per capita EF and BC of Gansu province from 2010 to 2020. We created a three-dimensional ecological footprint ( E F 3 D ) model by incorporating the ecological footprint size ( E F s i z e ) and ecological footprint depth ( E F d e p t h ) into the EF model and the E F 3 D of Gansu province from 2010 to 2020 was measured. The E F 3 D value was estimated using the gray GM (1, 1) prediction model in order to determine the sustainability condition of Gansu province during the next ten years. Finally, the risk of ecosystem loss in the province of Gansu was ultimately assessed using an ecological risk model (EVR). The results show that Gansu province's per capita EF and BC displayed generally rising trends and the province is experiencing unsustainable development. The region's projected future consumption of natural capital was estimated by the results, and the E F 3 D of Gansu province is expected to increase significantly in the future. These findings have a certain reference value for adjusting the industrial structure and utilizing resources in Gansu province. Furthermore, these findings will assist Gansu province in achieving sustainable development policy recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South American country Brazil is one of the richest countries in terms of natural resources, representing 14 percent of the world's total biocapacity. However, the biocapacity (biosphere's ability to generate resources and sequester waste) per capita in Brazil has shown a massive decline over the last five decades, while economic growth and urbanization have rapidly increased for the same period. Brazil is one of the largest creditors of biocapacity to the world, and biocapacity loss in Brazil can lead to devastating environmental consequences. Therefore, this work empirically investigates the influence of urbanization, economic growth, and industrialization on biocapacity controlling human capital from 1961 to 2016 in Brazil. The Bayer and Hack cointegration test, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique, and Hacker and Hatemi-J (J Econ Stud 39:144–160, 2012) causality tests are employed. The findings unfolded a U-shaped relationship between economic growth and biocapacity, evidencing that economic growth reduces biocapacity, but after achieving a threshold level, it promotes biocapacity. Urbanization has a negative relationship with biocapacity per capita, indicating that urbanization is a significant driver of the biocapacity loss in Brazil. Further, urbanization and economic growth Granger cause biocapacity. Lastly, relevant policy implications are proposed to overcome the reduction in biocapacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can the ecological footprint framework be used for measuring resource security? Wackernagel et al. (2021) assert it can, emphasizing the role of biocapacity balance – the difference between a country's biocapacity and the ecological footprint of its consumption. This paper argues that a positive biocapacity balance is not a good indicator of resource security, as it misrepresents climate change's relevance to national resources, overlooks resource depletion, and enforces an overly restrictive notion of "semi-autarky". The paper suggests a set of guidelines to better capture resource security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latin America experiences an increasing urban primacy index and a rapid expansion of the financial system, putting direct pressure on the demand for resources to satisfy the consumption of large cities. We investigate the convergence of per capita biocapacity in 16 Latin America countries and evaluate the factors that influence its evolution over time. Specifically, we analyze the impact of the urban primacy index, economic progress, and the financial globalization index on the convergence of per capita biocapacity. We use the methodological framework developed by Phillips and Sul Econometrica 75:1771-1855, (2007) to analyze the convergence and the formation of convergence clubs of biocapacity during 1970–2017. The findings indicate that the countries of the region do not share a common trend of biocapacity, although they are grouped into five converging clubs. Biocapacity transition analysis reveals that countries have heterogeneous transition pathways between them. Using marginal effects, we find that the urban primacy index and economic progress reduce the biocapacity. The effect of the financial globalization index on biocapacity is not conclusive. The quantile regressions reveal that quantiles' impact of the urban primacy index and financial globalization on per capita biocapacity is heterogeneous. However, the effect of economic progress on biocapacity that predominates among quantiles is positive. The adoption of common policies among the countries that form the converging clubs could improve the effectiveness of pro-environmental policies and promote the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals related to environmental quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of ecological footprint (ECF) and its antecedents has been a popular point of deliberation among experts in recent times. However, a West African perspective is scarce. Therefore, this study analyzes the impact of tourism, renewable energy, and biocapacity in fostering or constraining the impact of ecological footprint (ECF) in West African countries. The study adopted the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimation, and Granger causality test for its analysis over 1995–2016. The study found that human capital, natural resources rents, tourism, and real income positively correlates with ECF. Also, biocapacity increases the ecological footprints of the region. In the short-run, the study found a unidirectional causality from ecological footprints to renewable energy consumption, human capital, urbanization but a bidirectional relationship with biocapacity and real income. The study also found a bidirectional causality from ecological footprints to all the variables in the long-run. The study recommends that countries undertake pragmatic policies and actions to prevent rising ECF per capita by minimizing overexploitation of indigenous natural resources and eco-services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultivation of community residents' ecological concept has an important impact on the construction of human ecological civilization. In this paper, the ecological footprint (EF) of community residents' food consumption was calculated and studied by using the theories and methods of biocapacity and EF. The per capita annual EF of the selected three typical communities was high-income community (1.72gha) > ordinary community (1.55gha) > pilot ecological community (1.51gha). As for the components of annual EF of community residents, the carbon footprint accounted for the largest proportion (0.8gha/person), followed by farmland (0.39gha/person) and grassland, and those of construction land, woodland and grassland were relatively small. As for the components of residents' consumption activities in the whole year, food accounted for the largest part of the EF (0.79gha/person), followed by housing (0.49gha/person), and the other components accounted for a relatively small proportion. The per capita carbon footprint of typical communities was high-income community (0.9gha) > ordinary community (0.88gha) > pilot ecological community (0.61gha), which was likely due to the differences in energy consumption-ability of residents in these three communities. Thus it is clear that the consumption-ability of different groups and their preferences for food, clothing, housing and transportation should be considered in the process of community ecological construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constant environmental deterioration is a problem widely addressed by multiple international organizations. However, given the current economic and technological limitations, alternatives that immediately and significantly impact environmental degradation negatively affect contemporary development and lifestyle. Because of this, rather than limiting population consumption patterns or developing sophisticated and highly expensive technologies, the solution to environmental degradation lies more in the progressive transformation of production and consumption patterns. Thus, to support this change, the objective of this article is to forecast the behavior of consumption and regeneration of biologically productive land until the year 2030, using a deep neural network adjusted to Global Footprint Network data for prediction, and to provide information that favors the development of local economic strategies based on the territorial strengths and weaknesses of each continent. The most relevant findings about biocapacity and ecological footprint data are: fishing grounds have the great renewable potential in the global consumption of products and focused on the Asian region being approximately 55% of the world's ecological footprint; grazinglands indicate an exponential growth in terms of ecological footprint, however South America and Africa have almost 55% of the distribution in the world biocapacity, being great powers in the generation of agricultural products; forest lands show a decrease in biocapacity, there is a progressive and exponential deterioration of forest resources, the highest deficit in the world is generated in Asia; cropland presents an environmental balance between biocapacity and ecological footprint; and builtland generates great impacts on development and regeneration in other lands, indicating the exponential crisis that could eventually be established by needing more and more resources from large built metropolises to replace the natural life provided by other lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In spite the growing attention on the role of carbon capturing and sequestration schemes in mitigating emissions, its contribution to the deployment of renewable energy remains uncomfortably low, especially in Europe. Thus, the current study contributes to the literature by investigating how natural capital captured by biocapacity amidst carbon emission influences renewable energy deployment by controlling for the role of openness to trade and oil utilization among the European countries. Based on a panel data analysis of over the period 1990–2016, we follow rigorous econometric approaches that accommodates country-specific factors such as the cross-sectional dependence, country-specific heterogeneity, and the non-stationarity dimension of the variables. Fundamentally, the results confirm the presence of significant long-term association among variables. The empirical results also authenticate that oil utilization and carbon emissions discourage renewable energy deployment by inelastic proportions. In essence, the result suggests that energy transition advancement is propelled by the deployment of carbon sequestration techniques through the expansion of natural capital. Moreover, evidence illustrates that the productive capacity of the Europe's ecosystem and openness to trade are critical to the region's energy transition policy, thus an influential factor of renewable energy supply. Furthermore, the causality analysis reveals a feedback effect between biocapacity and renewable energy, and between trade and renewable energy. The findings offer a platform for re-invent policy implications for the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most direct and easy to be use indicators of individual sustainability to date is the Ecological Footprint. The Ecological footprint measures how much bio productive area (whether land or water) a population would need to produce to sustain the renewable resources it consumes, and to absorb the waste it generates. The purpose of this research is, in addition to a self-assessment of the students' knowledge about the basic concepts of individual sustainability such Ecological footprint, biocapacity, Carbon footprint, Water footprint and Earth Overshoot Day, to undertake the first calculation of the individual ecological footprint in Kosovo. The research hypothesis was that the Ecological footprint of our group would be below the global average of 2.8 global hectares (gha). The sample of this research consists of 240 students of the Faculty of Education, University of Prishtina. With this calculation, students have shown their individual impact in the environment according to their lifestyle: housing, food, travel, purchase of goods and how much waste they generate. The data have shown that the average Ecological footprint of the sample is 3.4 gha, with a minimum value of 2.5 gha and a maximum of 5.3 gha. This figure is 0.6 gha above the global average Ecological footprint and larger than three neighboring countries of Kosovo. The largest percentage of the group's footprint is transportation, followed by housing, food, waste, and purchases of goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We map the ecosystem service flows due to large-scale land acquisitions in time series. • We assess the significance of large-scale land acquisitions on the local ecosystem service budget. • The efficiency of the transactions is assessed in ecosystem services terms. • The drivers shaping the geography of the flows are identified. • The temporal evolution of the phenomenon is analyzed and discussed. Ecosystem services support human society at both local and global scale. The globalization of supply chains led to proliferating ecosystem markets around the world. Biocapacity – the provision of biomass-based resources like food, fibers and the CO 2 removal from atmosphere – of land-based ecosystems is particularly involved due to the nature of the services it provides. Since large scale-land acquisitions (LSLAs) commonly involve ecosystems or land located in the Global South and investors in the Global North, they may lead to the displacement of the benefits deriving from such ecosystems and their biocapacity. Previous studies investigated the LSLAs' consequences in terms of ecological degradation. However, more research is needed for measuring the associated inequalities in order to track the global drivers of such degradation. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap by measuring net gains and losses of ecosystem service value linked with LSLAs by superseding the common approach and considering the involved countries' biocapacity. The key novelty consists in backtracking the off-market value chain, which is an aspect so far unexplored among LSLAs studies. By focusing on the biocapacity economic value, we reveal that the growing trend in LSLAs is coupled with loss of benefits for the countries ceding land. The analysis captures the effect of the 2008 crisis which triggered more transactions, as well as the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated the already existing loss. Our analysis reveals that for every hectare of cropland acquired through international land markets in 2021, 15,000 US $ were lost, while for forest the loss amounted to 5000 US $ per hectare. Finally, we reveal that developing countries' presence is growing among the expanding pool of investors, mostly acquiring from other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identifies the drivers of carbon dioxide emission and measures its effects on climate change in the countries of the Congo Basin. It applies panel Autoregressive Distributed lag (ARDL) model to Kaya’s (1990) identity framework, which breaks up the main determinants of carbon dioxide emissions into energy intensity, carbon intensity, population and per capita gross domestic product. To take into account the ecological specificities of these countries, we add other variables; like “biocapacity” and “ecological balance”. Using data for the 1971-2016 period, the results show that economic growth has a more negative effect on environmental quality in the Congo Basin, followed by energy intensity, carbon intensity and population density. “Biocapacity” and “ecological balance” have negative and positive coefficients, suggesting that they respectively are a “carbon sink” and “emission source” for CO2, although the coefficients are non-significant. Particular attention should therefore be given to forest protection and ecological transition, problems arising from population explosion and the resulting uncontrolled urban development.

Many countries encounter environmental imbalance where the ecological footprint is higher than biocapacity due to natural resource-induced economic growth. This paper focuses on Saudi Arabia, a prominent oil exporter, to assess the dynamic impact of oil extraction on ecological footprint and biocapacity by applying the quantile on quantile (QQ) approach. This empirical investigation demonstrates that a higher quantile of oil extraction is negatively associated with a lower quantile of ecological footprint; conversely, a lower quantile of oil extraction and a higher quantile of ecological footprint are positively associated. Additionally, a lower quantile of oil extraction and lower quantile of biocapacity are negatively associated. The empirical analysis confirms that oil extraction is somewhat less responsible higher score of ecological footprint due to efficient management in oil extraction and refinery process. Several policy implications of these findings are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human beings are not only a part of our planet's ecosystems, but also, they are massively overusing them. This makes ecosystem protection, including biodiversity preservation, vital for humanity's future. The speed and scale of the threat are unprecedented in human history. The long arch of evolution has been confronted with such a high level of human impact, that we are now facing the sixth mass extinction event, 66 million years after the last one. This threat heightens the imperative for bold human intervention. Our paper identifies three strategies for such an intervention. First, and possibly most challenging, human demand needs to be curbed so it fits within the bounds of what Earth's ecosystems can renew. Without meeting this quantitative goal, biodiversity preservation efforts will not be able to get scaled. Second, in the transition time, we must focus on those locations and areas where most biodiversity is concentrated. Such a focus on ‘hotspots’ will help safeguard the largest portion of biodiversity with least effort. Third, to direct biodiversity preservation strategies, we need to much better document the existence and distribution of biodiversity around the globe. New information technologies could help with this critical effort. In conclusion, biodiversity preservation is no longer just a concern for specialized biologist but is becoming a societal necessity if humanity wants to have a stable future.