Acceptance of the ecological (and carbon) footprint

The ecological footprint is a widely accepted and used concept in the professional domain, but its exact content and the standard calculation details are known only by a few. The EF is acknowledged by international organizations (EU), by countries (United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan) and by regions (Wales), as well as by researching and training institutions and the currency of this method is continuously increasing. Just a few examples:

• José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission cooperated in publishing the report on the ecological footprint of the EU in 2005 with Global Footprint Network and WWF.
• The European Environment Agency and the Environmental Directorate of the European Commission are using partially the ecological footprint as an indicator and they are planning its introduction in the future.
• Politicians, like Tony Blair (former British PM) introduced the "One Planet Economy" concept and now DEFRA is reviewing and recalculating the ecological footprint of Great Britain.
• The accepted Nemzeti Fenntartható Fejl?dési Stratégia (National Sustainable Development Strategy) plans to use the ecological footprint as a sustainability indicator.
• The Global Footprint Network calculates and records (in every year) the ecological footprint of 150 countries individually and of the world’s total population.

"ten-in-ten" campaign recently launched by the Global Footprint Network aims to raise the (national) ecological footprint to the level of GDP and by 2015 this indicator shall be treated on the same way (calculate, record and publish) as the economic indicator. Switzerland has already indicated its intent to take part in the program and the EU has already issues a supporting statement to this campaign. The countries, beyond the above ones, in which there is a chance to introduce the method in the near future: Australia, Brazil, South- Africa, France, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Russia. GFN is in negotiation with other countries about the introduction of ecological footprint, for example with the United Arab Emirates and with Mozambique.