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Ecological Footprint of Mediterranean countries: A focus on food resource’s access and utilization
Alessandro Galli, PhD 2nd SDSN Mediterranean Conference
05-06 March 2015, Siena | Italy
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ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT: ASSESSING COUNTRIES’ ECOLOGICAL BALANCE SHEET
SUPPLY = BIOCAPACITY How much bioproductive area is available to us?
DEMAND = ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT How much bioproductive area
do we use?
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Mediterranean’s Ecological Footprint and biocapacity, 1961-2010
• Ecological Footprint of consumption (EFC) grew by 54%, mainly due to the increase in the carbon Footprint component (+158%)
• Biocapacity (BC) decreased by 21%: population growth outstripped productivity gains
• Regional BC now supplies ≈41% of the resources and services demand
• EFP exceeded BC since early ‘60s
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ECOLOGICAL BALANCES: NATIONAL FOOTPRINT VS. NATIONAL BIOCAPACITY
1961 2008
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WHAT IS DRIVING THE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT OF MED COUNTRIES?
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GFC
Government
Miscellaneous goods and services
Restaurants and hotels
Education
Recreation and culture
Communication
Transportation
Health
Furnishings, household equipment androutine household maintenanceHousing, water, electricity, gas andother fuelsClothing and footwear
Alcoholic beverages, tobacco andnarcoticsFood and non-alcoholic beverages
• Main drivers of the regional Footprint in 2010 were food consumption (≈35%), transportation (≈28%) and housing (≈9%).
• The share of food Footprint ranges from as low as 20% (Slovenia) to as high as 70% (Morocco).
• Food is a basic need, on which family budgets are first spent.
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Food Supply (kcal per capita per day)
HOW EFFICIENT MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES ARE IN PROVIDING FOOD TO ITS RESIDENTS?
Most efficient food Footprint globally observed
FAO-estimated minimum daily dietary energy requirement
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FOOD FOOTPRINT OF MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES, IN 2010
• Protein-intensive food products (e.g., meat and dairy) have an higher footprint (per kcal) than plant-based food products.
• Egypt (and Slovenia) high calorie provision and low Footprint is due to low protein diet and high crop productivity (decreasing dependence on imported food)
• Portugal (and Malta) high Footprint is due to a protein-intensive diet rich in fish (44% of food Footprint) and meat products
(16%).
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• Food is a substantial share of Mediterranean countries’ overall resource requirements
• The main drivers are dietary habits on the consumption side – protein-rich diets place a higher demand on natural resources – and land productivity on the production side (a high level of local food production reduces use of fossil fuels for imports).
• Population growth and a shift towards a protein-based diet are likely to increase the pressure on resource provisioning ecosystem services
CONCLUSIONS
• The overall high resource requirements of Portugal for food are driven by dietary habits, which favor a protein-based diet. Egypt, on the other hand, has a plant-based, less resource-intensive diet.
• Food is one of the few basic human needs and thus resource appropriation due to its consumption can only be shifted to a small extent.
• As such, future food security need efficiency improvements as well as reduction of food waste and promotion of healthier and less resource-intensive
diets.
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Thank you
For more information please visit:
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/med
Alessandro Galli, PhD Director Mediterranean-MENA Program
Global Footprint Network [email protected]
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/medmailto:[email protected]
