Abstract
The focus of this chapter is on the biocapacity side of Ecological Footprint and biocapacity accounting. This is based on measuring natural capital for a land-based metric. Global hectares are the unit for establishing comparable portions of land around the world that support humanity’s consumption. This represents the resource base (natural capital) that supports human life and activities. It can be characterised as ‘carrying capacity’ because it poses an environmental limit to human consumption. In this way, biocapacity is a fundamental part of the Ecological Footprint and biocapacity accounting. When the Ecological Footprint is set against biocapacity, a full picture of the environmental situation can be presented at different scales. Biocapacity acts like a ‘measuring stick’ for consumption and, thereby, performs a vital function in the accounts. This chapter addresses biocapacity as entailing production and, therefore, as a resource base for humanity. Biocapacity is what sets the Ecological Footprint apart from other performance indicators in that it provides a baseline for comparison, from where performance and sustainability can be assessed and monitored.
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Thornbush, M.J. (2021). Biocapacity Accounting. In: The Ecological Footprint as a Sustainability Metric. SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62666-2_3
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