Environmental footprint, also referred to as an ecological footprint, is described in terms of the impact that the activities of people have on the environment.
Ecological footprint measures the ecological assets that a given population requires to produce the natural resources it consumes; including cropland for food and fibre products, grazing land for livestock, fishing grounds, timber, built-up space for urban infrastructure, forest areas for tourism, waste absorbtion and greenhouse demand on land.
Environmental footprint can be defined as:
- The effect that a person, company, activity, etc. has on the environment, for example the amount of natural resources that they use and the amount of harmful gases that they produce (Cambridge English Dictionary).
- The impact of human activities measured in terms of the biological area of land, water, and the atmosphere required to produce the goods consumed and to assimilate the wastes generated (Muthu, 2017).
It is simply the amount of earth’s surface it takes to provide everything each person uses – food, water, energy, clothes, roads, buildings etc.
A particular amount of ecological assets produced by a geographic population is termed biocapacity which is expressed in global hectares. If a population’s ecological footprint exceeds the region’s biocapacity, that region runs an ecological deficit. It means its ecological assets demand exceeds what the region’s ecosystem can renew. On the other hand, if a region’s biocapacity exceeds its ecological footprint, such region has an ecological reserve.
Today, it takes earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in one year. The deficit is called **earth’s overshoot**. We use more ecological resources and services than nature can generate through such areas of activities including:
- The amount of raw materials that we use to make products or services, where the raw materials are subject to depletion.
- Non-renewable resources that we use to make product or services.
- The quantity of wastes and emissions that we create in the process.
Ecological Footprint: A Global Concern
The world has recognised that companies’ activities will go on increasing their environmental footprint and consequently destroy the ecosystem beyond bearable condition, if nothing is done about it. This concern has led many companies to look for ways to reduce the size of their own particular footprint and ‘tread more softly’. Eco-friendly policies are now embraced for implementation for:
- A more efficient resource management i.e. using different resources. For example, fish stocks and hard wood timber have alternative uses in ‘tofu’ or beef and plastic or steel materials respectively.
- “Green” procurement policies that support reduction of ozone layer depletion.
- Waste minimisation and waste management policies. For example, policies on reducing pollution and recycling waste.
The Measurement of Environmental Footprint
Environmental footprint for any economic activity of any organisation can be measured in terms of the area of productive land and aquatic ecosystems that have been used.
The four common methods of footprint analysis for economic activity of a nation according to Mathis (1998) are considered under the followings:
- Its energy use
- The built environment i.e. land covered by human settlement and its connecting infrastructure, such as roadways etc.
- Food productions.
- Forestry products.
For each category, it is possible to measure the land area for these activities within the country, in global hectares, to obtain a total environmental footprint for the country. This then is converted into an environmental footprint per head.
Carbon Neutrality
Carbon neutrality exists when a company is able to counterbalance its use of carbon products, and particularly its carbon dioxide emissions, with activities that reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere such as growing trees or plants which absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Some companies have also tried to reduce their impact on carbon dioxide pollution by switching to the use of fuel and energy that does not involve carbon consumption.
Some of the methods adopted by companies in reducing carbon emissions include:
- Conserving energy and resources such as oil, coal, natural gas, water and minerals.
- Recycling materials to reduce the need for disposals.
- Reducing packaging waste.
- Making, using, handling and transporting materials safely and in an environmentally-friendly way and in compliance with local regulations.
- Managing land efficiently to increase habitats for wild life.
- Developing new products and processes that reduce the environmental risks.
- Setting a target of zero waste generation and zero waste emissions.
Social Footprint
A social footprint is the effect of economic activity on society and people. In general, economic activity is seen as providing benefits for society, although some companies are much more ‘people-friendly’ than others. Some companies for example, use child labour and/or pay subsistence-level wages to their workers.
Companies might seek to measure the contribution of their activities towards society in terms of:
- Total numbers employed or increase in the total number of employees.
- The proportion of the total workforce employed in different parts of the world.
- Total numbers of people assisted through educational training scholarships, economic empowerment. For example, Airtel “Touching Lifes” program that helps the less privileged in the society to improve on their enterprise efforts.
- The proportion of the total workforce from different ethnic groups.
- Health and safety at work. For example, numbers of employees injured each year per 500 of the workforce.
Social Ecology
Social ecologists argue that the environmental crisis has been caused by companies seeking growth, profits and economic self-interest. As true as this could be, companies are still trying to get bigger and more profitable, even though they exploit the environmental ideology to express their plans and ambitions.
Some of the arguments put up by social environmentalists include:
Environment problems are caused by companies that seek continued growth in size and profits.
Social ecologists also argue that the structure of society and the future of the environment are closely related.
Environmentalists are focusing wrongly on symptoms of the environmental problems, rather than its root causes; so they will not find lasting solution.
A truly ‘green’ entrepreneur cannot possibly survive in today’s capitalist culture, because by using ecological/environmentally sound methods they would be at a disadvantage to more ruthless rivals who will produce at a lower cost.